His Majesty King Abdullah decorated the United Nations Relief and Works Agency with the Istiqlal Medal of the First Order in recognition of the agency's 60 years of service to the Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd received the award on UNRWA's behalf, following a meeting with King Abdullah and Her Majesty Queen Rania.

During the meeting, King Abdullah stressed the need to provide all possible support to UNRWA in executing its humanitarian work for the Palestinian refugees. He especially commended UNRWA's recent assistance to the Palestinians during the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008.

King Abdullah said that Jordan would continue its support of UNRWA, and noted that the Jordan Armed Forces field hospital in Gaza, which provides medical services to the Palestinian people, will continue to complement the work that UNRWA is doing in Gaza. During the meeting, the King also emphasised the refugees' rights to return and compensation.

Following the meeting, AbuZayd said: "I am deeply honoured to have been invited to meet Their Majesties, particularly as this was my first meeting with the King."

"I remain extremely grateful for their continuing personal involvement with Palestine refugees and with our work at UNRWA," AbuZayd said. "In this, our sixtieth anniversary year, it is important to pay tribute to our friends in this region and those such as our partners in Jordan who have given to us and the refugees so generously over six decades. But it is also important to take stock and remind the world that sixty years of exile and statelessness is unacceptable, and that a political resolution for the refugees must be found."