Several UN organizations have warned against halting funding for the Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, which has come under enormous criticism. “The decisions by several Member States to suspend funding for UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza,” the heads of a number of UN agencies said in a joint statement.
“Withdrawing UNRWA funding is dangerous and would lead to a collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” the report said. This would have “far-reaching” humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territories and throughout the region, the United Nations Interagency Standing Committee said in a statement. “The world must not abandon the people of Gaza.”
The statement was signed, among others, by the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, by the UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk, by the head of the United Nations Development Program, Achim Steiner, by the head of the UNICEF Children’s Fund, Catherine Russell, and by the head of the World Health Organization WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Thirteen UNRWA employees are suspected of involvement in the unprecedented attack on Israel by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas on October 7. In response to the allegations, Austria and other countries – such as Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the US – announced they would temporarily suspend payments to the aid agency.
Meanwhile, in New York, the UN representative for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, Sigrid Kaag, said no organization could replace UNRWA in the Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Aid Organization has a lot of knowledge about the population in the Gaza Strip. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also emphasized that no humanitarian organization in the Gaza Strip can provide “food, water and medicine” like UNRWA. “We want this work to continue,” he said, demanding that the UN take the matter seriously and investigate.
Fear of “devastating consequences for civil society”
No other organization has the capacity “for a huge aid organization like the one needed now”, without UNRWA this is “not feasible at the moment”, Matthias Schmale, who led the Palestinian aid organization until 2021, emphasized in the press conference on Wednesday. “Ö1-Morning News “. If donors did not resume payments, UNRWA would have to stop operating, with “devastating consequences for civil society.” The suspected employees are ‘a very small minority’. At least 95 percent of UNRWA staff on the ground are Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. With such a huge organization, one cannot rule out the possibility of ties to Hamas. However, UNRWA applies “very strict monitoring measures”.
Schmale defends “working relations” with Hamas
Schmale said he did not think it was possible that employees would participate in massacres. This is “not at all” acceptable. If the allegations are found to be true, there will be not only disciplinary but also criminal consequences. However, it is “naive to believe that you can work in an area like the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, without having working relationships, without making pragmatic agreements,” Schmale said. That doesn’t mean ‘agreeing with the ideology or justifying your actions, but it simply means creating the freedom to do your own work independently’.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
