GENEVA, June 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A two-day international conference on humanitarian needs of 4 million Palestinian refugees concluded here on Tuesday with a call for international community to pay more attention to the worsening situation of Palestinian refugees.

    The greatest concern as regards to Palestinian refugees was in the occupied Palestinian territory, where they faced the negative impacts of a protracted conflict, said Walter Fust, chairman of the conference co-hosted by the Swiss government and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the NearEast (UNRWA).

    Delegates from over 90 countries and organizations discussed a series of key issues, including the need for the respect of international humanitarian law, freedom of movement for refugees, emergency re-housing, and improved efforts on community development and access to employment.

    The number of Palestinians living below the poverty line has tripled in just four years, UN Secretary-General Kofi Anna said Monday in a message to the conference.

    Fust said the conference was intended to be the starting point of a new humanitarian mobilisation in support of the Palestinian refugees.

    Peter Hansen, commissioner-general of UNRWA, said that over the decades and in the face of wars, conflict and ensuring turbulence,UNRWA had had to deal with waves of first-time, second-time and third-time refugees.

    Although the meeting was not a pledging conference, Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Britainand the OPEC Fund for International Development made financial pledges in a total amount of 10.5 million US dollars. Some countries announced that they would make additional financial pledges shortly.

    Since September 2000, the number of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip relying on UNRWA for food aid has risen from 130,000 to 1.1 million.

    In the same period, the proportion of Palestinians living belowthe poverty line has increased from 20 percent to 60 percent. Enditem