Germany wants to continue cooperation with the UN Palestinian Relief Organization (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, it was announced on Wednesday. The background is the recommendations of a report by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. The research group acted on behalf of the UN.
UNRWA made headlines in January after Israel claimed that 12 employees were involved in the October 7 Hamas massacre and that the organization as a whole had been infiltrated by Hamas. Some of the major donors, including the US and Germany, subsequently temporarily suspended payments.
No financial problems
In the Colonna Report, independent experts concluded that UNRWA had put in place a number of ‘robust’ mechanisms to ensure respect for the principle of neutrality. However, there is room for improvement. There would also be no financial bottlenecks. UNRWA’s short-term financial needs in Gaza are currently covered by existing funds.
“By continuing the acute cooperation, we support UNRWA’s vital and currently irreplaceable role in caring for the people of Gaza, as other international aid organizations are currently also dependent on UNRWA’s operational structures in Gaza,” the German statement said Explanation. According to information from Berlin, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Japan recently resumed their cooperation with the aid organization.
200 million from Germany alone
German cooperation with UNRWA in the Gaza Strip has been suspended since the end of January. However, money continued to flow for the organization’s work in other regions: at the end of March, the federal government made 45 million euros available to the Palestinian aid organization for work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. According to its own information, the German federal government supported the UN aid agency UNRWA with more than 200 million euros in 2023 alone.
The German Federal Government has intensively addressed Israel’s allegations against UNRWA and has discussed them closely with the Israeli government, the United Nations and other international donors, the statement continued. It will work closely with its closest international partners to provide further funding. In view of the catastrophic situation of the people in the Gaza Strip, there have been repeated calls recently to continue supporting the Palestinian aid organization.
Berlin wants to be a role model
At the same time, Germany demanded that the recommendations of the Colonna Report should now be implemented immediately. Particular importance would be attached to strengthening UNRWA’s internal audit and staffing it with UN international staff, improved external oversight of project management, further ongoing comparison of UNRWA employee lists with Israeli security authorities and the expansion of the internal training.
Source: Krone
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