Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and representatives of United Nations humanitarian agencies on Sunday agreed to step up cooperation and coordination between Jordanian institutions and various U.N. humanitarian organizations to improve health, education and other services extended to Syrian refugees in Jordan. Judeh and the UN officials, including U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and representatives of the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF, discussed the ramifications of the conflict in Syria and agreed an "advanced" mechanism for coordination, Jordan News Agency (Petra) reported. Guterres said the new coordination formula is "a quantum leap" in relations that would enable Jordan and the U.N. agencies to better deal with new challenges posed by the rising number of refugees. The minister noted that in his address to the U.N. General Assembly's 67th session, King Abdullah II urged world nation to cooperate to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, affirming that Jordan will continue to receive Syrian refugees and provide assistance to them despite the economic burdens on Jordan. Judeh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jafar Hassan and the U.N. officials also met eight ambassadors of donor countries to discuss the conditions of the refugees and the need to extend aid to Jordan to enable it to continue services to more than 250,000 Syrian refugees on its territory.
