Switzerland's Pierre Krähenbühl, commissioner-general of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (Unrwa), resigned with immediate effect on Wednesday (November 6th) after being accused of abuse of power for several months.
The sudden resignation, a few hours after being suspended from office by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, comes as the UN General Assembly is expected to renew Unrwa's mandate for three years, despite a opposition from the United States and Israel. These two countries consider that this agency has no reason to be in its current form.
The UN had earlier announced that Pierre Krähenbühl had been suspended from office and appointed a new official to act as interim director of the agency, Christian Saunders. A decision following an internal report on the operation of Unrwa handed over this summer to the UN boss.
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Obtained by AFP, this report from Unrwa's Ethics Department reported mismanagement and abuse of power by a small group of senior officials - mostly expatriates - who would have bypassed the mechanisms of UN control. The document described as "credible and corroborated" serious ethical abuses committed by senior executives, including the Agency's Commissioner General, Pierre Krähenbühl.
Charges included "inappropriate sexual acts, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, (committed) for personal ends, to quell legitimate differences of opinion," according to the report.
Resignation deemed late by some officials
Pierre Krähenbühl would have made a love affair with his senior advisor, appointed in 2015, after an "extremely fast" recruitment process, the document said.
The preliminary results of the investigation "exclude" any "fraud" or "misappropriation of funds" by Pierre Krähenbühl, but mention "management problems", had specified in a statement, Wednesday, Antonio Guterres, announcing the administrative suspension from Switzerland.
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For some UN officials, the resignation of Pierre Krähenbühl is late. It comes at a delicate time for the Agency, which has been fighting since 2018 to compensate for a stoppage of funding from the United States ($ 300 million a year).
Unrwa provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Territories.
Israel and the United States oppose Palestinians' ability to transfer refugee status to their children, thereby reducing the number of people receiving Unrwa aid, which Palestinians denounce as a violation of their rights.
With AFP