University of Reading
University of Reading
04/26/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/26/2024 04:20
Expert comment: 'Report validates UNWRA concerns'
Expert comment: 'Report validates UNWRA concerns'
26 April 2024
Professor Rosa Freedman, Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development at the University of Reading, said: "The independent inquiry headed by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna about UNRWA has been published. It validates concerns about many parts of the agency being hijacked for Hamas' purposes. The report emphasises the need for UNRWA to continue its work while also insisting that stronger safeguarding and governance are crucial for the agency.
"The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was created in 1949 to provide emergency relief and international assistance to "Palestine refugees" from the 1948 War of Independence. UNRWA was created in December 1949 to provide temporary humanitarian relief until the refugees were resettled or returned home.
"The Palestinians are the only people to have their own dedicated refugee agency. All other refugees globally fall under the mandate of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
"UNRWA remains in place nearly 7 decades later. It operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to provide aid for Palestinians and has become synonymous with the "Palestinian state". It is a large-scale bureaucracy and in the absence of properly functioning state institutions, acts as an unofficial substitute for the state. Unlike other UN agencies, and as the UN report highlights, many employees or actions of UNRWA are not apolitical, nor neutral. For many, it is a brand that symbolises Palestinian national-ness.
"The report demonstrates what many people and UN donor governments have been saying since 7th October, that significant reforms need to be implemented in UNRWA. Otherwise, donors who paused their funding cannot be sure that their money will not be used for supporting future acts of Hamas terrorism against Israel or Gazans."
"The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was created in 1949 to provide emergency relief and international assistance to "Palestine refugees" from the 1948 War of Independence. UNRWA was created in December 1949 to provide temporary humanitarian relief until the refugees were resettled or returned home.
"The Palestinians are the only people to have their own dedicated refugee agency. All other refugees globally fall under the mandate of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
"UNRWA remains in place nearly 7 decades later. It operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to provide aid for Palestinians and has become synonymous with the "Palestinian state". It is a large-scale bureaucracy and in the absence of properly functioning state institutions, acts as an unofficial substitute for the state. Unlike other UN agencies, and as the UN report highlights, many employees or actions of UNRWA are not apolitical, nor neutral. For many, it is a brand that symbolises Palestinian national-ness.
"The report demonstrates what many people and UN donor governments have been saying since 7th October, that significant reforms need to be implemented in UNRWA. Otherwise, donors who paused their funding cannot be sure that their money will not be used for supporting future acts of Hamas terrorism against Israel or Gazans."