WHO fears a catastrophe in the Gaza Strip by stopping payments to UNRWA

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UNRWA staff

Photo: Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP

Without the humanitarian work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO) fears a catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. No other organization has the capacity to provide the same level of aid to the 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. He called on all countries to maintain their payments to UNRWA.

Several Western countries have temporarily suspended payments, including the two largest donors, the United States and Germany. This is due to allegations that employees of the aid organization were directly or indirectly involved in the terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023. "We call for these decisions (to stop payments) to be reconsidered," said Tedros.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, called for UNRWA's work to be stopped. "It is time for the international community and the UN itself to understand that UNRWA's mission must end," he told UN delegates, according to a statement from his office. "We have to replace UNRWA with other UN organizations and other aid organizations."

Baerbock sees Uno as responsible

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a differentiated debate about the future of UNRWA and called for the allegations to be clarified quickly. "The situation in Gaza is simply hell," said the Green politician in the debate about the Federal Foreign Office's budget in the Bundestag in Berlin. Baerbock also said that UNRWA is almost the sole provider in Gaza, as all other aid organizations there "can hardly be active at the moment."

"We know that what is currently there is only enough for a few weeks," said the Foreign Minister against the backdrop of the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip. That is why Germany has increased humanitarian funding for the Red Cross and the UN children's fund Unicef. But these funds would also have to be distributed. It is therefore essential that the UN fulfills its responsibility, initiates an investigation and, at the same time, carries out an independent audit of UNRWA, in which European actors are also involved. The Foreign Minister emphasized that the Federal Government had “made it clear to the United Nations: You are now responsible.” Millions of people are dependent on humanitarian aid.

The Federal Foreign Office's budget plans for expenditure of 6.71 billion euros (2023: 7.48 billion). The original government draft for the current year called for spending of 6.16 billion euros. This means that 2.2 billion euros (2023: 2.7 billion) are available for humanitarian aid, and a good 400 million euros (2023: 420 million) are available for crisis prevention, stabilization and peacebuilding. The contribution to the United Nations is around 394 million euros, and the contributions to international organizations and institutions are around 250 million euros.

Demands for reform also from the SPD

SPD foreign politician Michael Roth said on Deutschlandfunk that UNRWA had lost credibility. The allegations “are so harsh and far-reaching that the credibility of the United Nations, but also this very organization, is completely lost,” said Roth.

»And if we really want to rebuild the Gaza Strip and Palestine, the Palestinian territories, if we really want to achieve a two-state solution, then we need an organization that is credible for everyone involved. And I find it very difficult to imagine what would happen with the UNWRA." That's why a "reform of the head and limbs" is needed at the United Nations, Roth also said. “And we have to actively participate in that.”

The argument that the organization's help cannot be replaced in the short term weighs heavily. »But we in Germany only provide 39 percent of our humanitarian aid to UNRWA. We still have the Red Cross and other international aid organizations,” he said.

Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) also commented on the payments. »I can't imagine that we won't provide more support given the suffering and need that is currently in this region. We'll have to help with that. By the way, it is also in Israel's interest that the people in this region receive help there," said Schulze on RTL/n-tv Frühstart. The refugee aid organization really has a problem that needs to be addressed. It must also be ensured that organizations such as Hamas are not supported by UN funds. Nevertheless, UNRWA is the organization that is currently providing assistance on site. »We don't have any other structures that can provide support right now. So there's nothing that can be done in the short term. But in the longer term, this aid organization has to change, there's no getting around it," said Schulze.

czl/dpa