Fallout from UNRWA ethics scandal
Last month, the UN Security Council voted overwhelmingly to renew the mandate of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), responsible for assisting Palestinian refugees, for three years. The agency has been under pressure following the US withdrawal of funding in 2018, and a scandal that broke last summer over alleged abuse by agency management, which led several nation-state donors to suspend payments. The officials implicated have now left UNRWA.
Allegations that the UN was slow in responding to concerns may raise questions over unaddressed management issues in other agencies.
Having already withdrawn all funding, the United States lacks leverage to push for any changes to UNRWA’s work.
Without support at the diplomatic level, Israeli pressure on UNRWA may now focus on restricting its activities in annexed East Jerusalem.
