UN expected to renew UNRWA’s mandate Friday despite ongoing ethical probe
The United Nations is expected to renew the mandate of its humanitarian agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday, despite an ongoing ethical probe that has weakened the already financially strapped organization.
“I appeal to all our partners and the membership to focus on enabling the agency to continue to implement its mandate on which Palestine refugees are dependent,” UNRWA’s acting chief Christian Saunders pled earlier this week in New York during a debate before the Fourth Committee.
Saunders replaced former UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl, who was among a number of top officials in the agency targeted by the probe conducted by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
The OIOS said earlier this month that it had found management issues regarding Krahenbuhl’s work. The UN has clarified that there is no suspicion of fraud. Krahenbuhl has denied any wrongdoing.
His departure earlier this month and the appointment of Saunders was designed to help restore confidence in the 70-year-old organization, particularly in advance of Friday’s vote. The UN traditionally renews the UN Relief and Works Agency’s mandate every three years, and it was only the news of the ethical probe that had raised a question on the matter.
Israel has long been concerned about the organization, and has argued that it helped promote a politicized idea of Palestinian refugee status that makes it hard to resolve the conflict.
“Following the resignation of its senior officials, it is clear that UNRWA needs to change,” said Israel Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Thursday. “We need greater transparency into its operations, including its cozy relationship with terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, and the textbooks it uses to teach children to hate Israel and Jews. Until that happens, UNRWA will remain an obstacle to peace.”
In a speech to the Fourth Committee on Monday, Saunders promised that moving forward, he would ensure greater transparency in the organization, particularly with regard to the funding of its $1.2 billion budget.
He told member states that UNRWA was still struggling to overcome the financial shortfall caused in large part by the US’s decision last year to halt all of its funding to the agency, which totaled some $360 million.
By November of 2018, “the shortfall was reduced to $64 million, and momentum remained in our favor as partners stepped forward with additional resources to close the gap,” Saunders said. “I do not wish to sound dramatic, but we are in an even more critical situation today than November of last year.” He said that there was now an $89 million shortfall.
“Core service delivery and our emergency operations are at imminent risk,” Saunders said. “Already, vendor payments are being deferred as we have virtually no cash, and no working capital reserves.”
The problem in part is that some of the pledged funds have yet to come in, and others want to wait until the probe has been completed and organizational changes are completed. “I confirm here and now that these management issues are being addressed and addressed properly,” Saunders said.
He described how UNRWA services some 5.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
In Gaza, he said, almost all 1.1 million refugees “now rely on UNRWA for basic needs and in particular, food aid.”
The dependency on UNRWA has spiked in Gaza over the last 19 years due to its collapsing economy, Saunders said.
Saunders also addressed calls by the Jerusalem Municipality to shut down its services in east Jerusalem.
“We are monitoring the situation and are engaging with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter,” he said. “In parallel, we are ensuring the quality of program delivery in east Jerusalem, and have seen a significant increase in enrollment in our schools, following a number of years of declining enrollment.”
He said the financial issues have caused institutional problems.
“Industrial tensions amongst our workforce are rising over conditions of service, and there is a renewed threat of strikes in multiple fields,” said Saunders.
He urged nation states not to penalize UNRWA for the actions of a few individuals.
“We have taken strong measures not only to steady the ship,” he said. “There are limits as to what we can do on our own. We need the financial basis to continue meeting the needs of Palestine refugees.”
Israel’s deputy representative to the UN, Noa Furman, said that her country supported humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, but that UNRWA has chosen “to divert donors’ money to promote a controversial political agenda, part of which is the campaign in support of the so-called ‘right of return.’”
Furman charged that UNRWA was “corrupt and ineffective,” and that the problem
“goes deeper than a couple of UNRWA senior management members traveling the world in first class using donor money that was intended for humanitarian assistance. How can we be sure that the corruption was limited to the leadership of the agency and has not sullied the rest of its activities? The international community and the donor countries must examine closely all of UNRWA’s activities, and inspect what their taxpayer money is being used for.”