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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a former French foreign minister to head up an independent review of the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, which is embroiled in a scandal and facing the loss of more than $400 million in donor contributions.
"The secretary-general, in consultation with UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini, has appointed an independent review group to assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches that have been made," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday.
Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will lead the group, which will start work on February 14 and submit a preliminary report to Guterres in late March. A final public report will follow toward the end of April.
Dujarric said Colonna will work with three research organizations - the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Christian Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, has come under intense scrutiny since the U.N. revealed on January 26, that Israel had provided it with information alleging that a dozen of its staffers were involved in the deadly October 7 terror attacks inside Israel. The U.N. immediately fired nine of them, one was confirmed dead, and officials are clarifying the identity of two others.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the establishment of the review group in a message on X. He said Israel will submit all evidence "highlighting UNRWA's ties to terrorism" to the group, and he called for Lazzarini's resignation.
Prior to the October 7 allegations, Israel had criticized UNRWA for years, alleging that the schools the agency operates have been used by Hamas for terrorist activities and that they promote an anti-Israel curriculum.
The review group announced Monday is separate from the internal investigation the U.N. is conducting into the allegations related to the 12 staffers. Their probes will happen in parallel.
In mid-January before the staff allegations surfaced, Lazzarini said he would conduct a review of the organization and its operations.
Among its tasks, the review group will look at where the agency's policies and procedures have failed and make recommendations for their improvement or the creation of new ones, to make UNRWA "better fit for purpose."
Fallout
UNRWA has warned that its relief operations in Gaza and throughout the Middle East could be shut down by the end of February if funding is not quickly restored.
At least 16 countries, including top donor the United States, have suspended contributions pending the outcome of the internal investigation into the staff allegations regarding October 7.
"We hope that donors have taken clear notice of the swift action taken by the secretary-general, the commissioner general, to address head-on issues that may exist," Dujarric told reporters. "We will continue to communicate with donors."
UNRWA has 13,000 staff in Gaza, about 3,000 of whom are still reporting to work daily, attempting to support 2 million Palestinians with critical assistance.