JERUSALEM, Israel – The United Nations agency dedicated to the plight of Palestinian refugees may soon need to rely on the help of other UN agencies to continue operating, triggering fears among supporters that the agency may eventually be forced to dissolve itself due to financial ruin.
On Saturday, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that despite rigorous efforts, the agency doesn’t have the resources it needs to continue serving Palestinian refugees on its own.
“One can continue to hope that the financial implosion of the Agency will not happen. Or, we can admit that the current situation is untenable and will inevitably result in the erosion of the quality of the UNRWA services or, worse, to their interruption. I am convinced that doing nothing will do more harm than good,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
“One option that is currently being explored is to maximize partnerships within the broader UN system. Central to this option, is that services could be provided on behalf and under the guidance of UNRWA, and hence strictly in line with the mandate UNRWA received from the UN General Assembly,” Lazzarini explained.
Such a move would be the first time in its 73-year history that UNRWA would rely on other UN agencies to operate.
Over the last decade, the agency has been rocked by a financial crisis, which has only been exacerbated by soaring food and fuel prices from the war in Ukraine. That, along with “shifting geopolitical priorities, new regional dynamics and the emergence of new humanitarian crises compounded by donor fatigue,” has resulted in the agency falling $100 million short of its budget every year, Lazzarini explained.
Despite Lazzarini’s assurances that UNRWA is “irreplaceable” and will not “handover or transfer” its responsibilities to another UN agency, The Jerusalem Post reports that Palestinians are concerned UNRWA is taking steps to dissolve itself.
Mohammad al-Madhoun, Hamas’ head of Refugees and Popular Committees, said it considers a transfer of UNRWA’s responsibilities to other UN agencies “an attempt to dismantle UNRWA.”
The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s refugee office said, “It is not within the authority of the commissioner-general to propose solutions to address the financial deficit in the UNRWA budget. He does not have a mandate to transfer the powers of UNRWA to other international organizations under the slogans of partnerships and synergy with UNRWA, which have political dimensions to liquidate UNRWA and transfer its powers to international organizations and the governments of the host countries.”
Senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials also condemned Lazzarini’s statement, saying “The most dangerous thing in the UNRWA commissioner-general’s statement is to end the Palestinian refugee issue, which every Palestinian rejects.”
For years, critics of UNRWA say that the agency has created a permanent class of Palestinian refugees, and has anti-Semitic and pro-terrorism curriculum in its UN-funded refugee schools.
In 2018, the Trump administration ended funding to UNRWA for Palestinian refugees, but the Biden administration restored this funding. Still, it hasn’t been enough to pull the agency out of its financial crisis.
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