RIO DE JANEIRO , Aug 21 2012 (IPS) – The policy of pacification of Rio de Janeiro’s violent favelas, or shantytowns, could serve as a model in some respects in Palestinian refugee camps, says Filippo Grandi, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees, in this interview with IPS.
Grandi invited Brazil to become the first Latin American country, and the first member of the BRICS group of emerging powers – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to join the 25-member UNRWA Advisory Commission.
Over the last year and a half, Brazil has provided 7.5 million dollars in aid to UNRWA, the Italian diplomat said during his official visit to this South American country on Aug. 13-17, where he visited São Paulo, Brasilia, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro.
via IPS – Brazil Invited to Join U.N. Palestinian Refugee Agency | Inter Press Service.
