United Nations chief Antonio Guterres announced the establishment of an independent panel to evaluate UNRWA, which has been facing challenges amidst an Israeli assault on Gaza.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres announced on Monday the creation of an independent panel to assess UNRWA, its embattled agency tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA is under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
More than a dozen countries, including the United States, Germany, Britain, and Sweden, have suspended funding for the agency.
The new independent panel will be led by former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, who will work with three European research organizations, the UN said in a statement.
The goal of the probe is to “assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.”
The panel is due to submit an interim report to Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in late March and then a final one in late April, with, if necessary, recommendations for “improvement and strengthening” of the agency’s mechanisms.
This assessment is separate from an internal probe that the United Nations launched last month after the accusations were first made against the 12 UNRWA employees.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the UN agency had been “totally infiltrated” by the group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The European groups helping in this independent assessment of UNRWA are the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
