麻豆APP

UNRWA?has long?faced?misinformation?and?disinformation,?including?about?its staff?and operations.?This?has?intensified?since the?war in Gaza?began on 7 October.

This document?outlines?UNRWA’蝉?positions—based on?objective, ascertainable?facts, data,?and?firsthand?information—?on?some of the most frequent?claims?and allegations?made?against the Agency?in the media and social media by?various?individuals, organizations, public and private entities.

• On 17 January, UNRWA Commissioner-General announced?his intention to commission an independent review to identify and assess the adequacy and implementation of the Agency’蝉 mechanisms and procedures to ensure neutrality. On 5 February, the Secretary-General appointed a Review Group, headed by Catherine Colonna, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 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.” For more information on the terms of reference of the review,?.

• On 26 January, in response to?allegations received orally from Israeli officials regarding the alleged involvement of 12 UNRWA staff in the 7 October attack against Israel, and upon ascertaining that the individuals were indeed UNRWA staff members, the UNRWA Commissioner-General decided to immediately terminate the appointments of these staff “in the interest of the Agency,” in accordance with applicable staff regulations, in order to protect its ability to deliver humanitarian assistance. This decision was communicated through a?.

• At the request of the UN Secretary-General, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the highest investigative body in the 麻豆APP, launched an investigation into these specific allegations. The UN Secretary-General requested in interim report within four weeks of OIOS starting work.

• On 27 January, the UNRWA Commissioner-General issued another??in response to several donor?countries suspending, pausing, or temporarily freezing funding to UNRWA.

The?Facts:?UNRWA does not have,?own,?or produce?its own?textbooks.?It?provides quality education in line with UN values and UNESCO standards, especially those applicable?to?refugee?contexts,?thus using?the host government?textbooks.?UNRWA?reviews all?the?textbooks?used in its?schools?to?identify?sections that may not be in line with UN?values and UNESCO standards for teaching.?UNRWA?has zero?tolerance?for?hate speech and incitement to discrimination, or violence.?Independent analysts?and international education experts?have?vouched?for?the?quality and content of?the?education that UNRWA provides in its?schools.?

Using?host?country curriculums in refugee situations?is standard for the UN around the world.?It is?considered a best practice?that helps?ensure that?students can matriculate into host country educational systems at any level and more broadly?participate?in the social and economic life of the host country. This is particularly relevant for UNRWA as our school system ends after grade 9,?except?in?Lebanon,?and students transition to local schools for upper secondary, then university.

UNRWA?enriches the curriculum it uses by adding a unique?programme?on Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Tolerance,?and?has also?established?school parliaments?run by students?in every?institution.?

UNRWA teachers are trained?to address any problematic content in the classroom, using guidance documents developed by UNRWA headquarters. The teachers are required to and accountable for following this approach. When it comes to Palestinian Authority textbooks, UNRWA refers systematically to UN positions on issues such as the occupation, borders, the wall, and others. UNRWA is not in a position to?–?nor it is mandated to?–?reconcile the Israeli and Palestinian?narratives.

Thousands of self-learning materials?produced in-house to support distance learning have also been reviewed through a robust three-tier review process and uploaded on UNRWA’蝉 Digital Learning Platform. Teachers are regularly reminded that only material uploaded on the platform can be used. Meanwhile UNRWA is progressing with digitalization of its education. It includes a gradual transition to digital teaching learning material which will be uploaded on the platform and become the sole source of materials to be used by students and teachers in the classroom, at home and remotely.

In addition, an?Education Expert Advisory Group, composed of globally recognized experts representing renowned institutions such as UNESCO and the World Bank among others, advises UNRWA on its digital transition as well as curriculum related matters more broadly.

Internationally recognized outside evaluations – including a?– empirically?demonstrated that UNRWA’蝉 educational outcomes are among the best in the region and at the lowest cost per student. UNRWA’蝉 students in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jordan “scored an average of a quarter of a standard deviation higher in international assessments than public school children, implying an advantage of almost a year of learning.”

Regarding the textbooks produced by the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA’蝉?own stance on these materials closely aligns with the??in the study commissioned by the European Commission and published in 2021.?

The Claim:?A 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office report allegedly said that UNRWA has not always implemented measures to address problematic content in school textbooks.?

The Facts:?The 2019 report reaffirmed UNRWA’蝉 unwavering commitment to UN values, and, where there was need for better implementation, this was done – you can find our statement about this?.?

UNRWA undertakes regular and meticulous review of all textbooks and learning materials used in the schools to ensure their compatibility with UN values and UNESCO standards, promoting educational excellence and reinforcing tolerance and human rights. ?

The Claim: Members of a Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers allegedly supported violence, including in the 7 October attacks against Israel, and there have been similar cases in the past involving UNRWA staff.

The Facts: The most recent claims, made by the organization UN Watch in January 2024 refer to exchanges found on an open Telegram chat that was not set-up, nor authorized, nor managed by UNRWA. The use of the UN and UNRWA logo on this Telegram group has not been authorized.??

Due to the?nature of Telegram, it is impossible to verify the allegation that all members of this group are UNRWA employees.?The group?seems to be?formed around job seeking, so it is unlikely that its members are all UNRWA staff (already employed by the Agency).?

Previous?claims by UN Watch and other organizations about the behavior of individuals have often misidentified as UNRWA staff the people allegedly involved. For example, in various claims made since 2022, concerning a total of 129 people, more than half turned out not to be UNRWA personnel.

Of the 30 people named as UNRWA staff in a report about this Telegram group, only 18 could be?properly reviewed?as the other 12 provided only first names or nicknames. From the 18, it has been confirmed that three do not work for the Agency and six have so far been inconclusive, requiring further review. The remaining nine may be active personnel. These cases have been referred to the UNRWA investigation department,?in accordance with?the Agency’蝉 procedures.?

UNRWA, like all UN Agencies, has a system in place to investigate allegations and disciplinary action is taken in all substantiated cases.

The Claim:?Rather than being part of the solution, UNRWA perpetuates the refugee problem, including by reminding Palestine refugees of their history and telling them their home is in Israel.

The Facts:??When the UN General Assembly created UNRWA by passing a??in 1949, it did not mandate the Agency to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nor the Palestine refugee?issue or?find durable solutions for refugees.?

Rather, UNRWA was set up as temporary organization?to carry out “direct relief and works?programmes” for Palestine refugees. In 1952, the UN General Assembly explicitly tasked UNRWA to serve any person whose “normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.”?

UNRWA has a humanitarian and development mandate, repeatedly renewed by the UN General Assembly, to?provide assistance?and protection to Palestine refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. This is done by delivering essential public services, primarily basic education, health care, relief and social services, microcredit, and emergency?assistance, including in situations of armed conflict.

The fact that UNRWA is still in place 75 years later is not a choice by the Agency but the result of a collective failure by Member States to resolve a political problem.?

Protracted refugee situations are the result of the failure to find political solutions to underlying political crises – sometimes leading refugees to?retain?their status across generations. Meanwhile, the international community has continued to support UNRWA and recognizes the role it plays in addressing human development issues and the long-term impacts of conflict.?

Palestine refugees do not get special treatment compared to other refugees. Under international law, refugees and their descendants may?retain?their status until a durable solution is found to the situation that made the population into refugees in the first place.?In this sense, Palestine?refugees are no different from other people in protracted refugee situations.?As?stated?by the 麻豆APP, this principle applies to all refugees and both UNRWA and UNHCR have recognized descendants as refugees on this basis.

Furthermore, the UN General Assembly in 1949 adopted a??stating that?“refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their?neighbours?should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

This is not an UNRWA position, this is a UN and a Member State position.

In addition, Palestine refugees, like all other refugees globally, have a right to learn about their history, including their?displacement.?UNRWA does not intend to – nor does it have a mandate to – reconcile Israeli and Palestinian narratives.??What UNRWA teaches in its schools is in line with UN positions on the conflict.?

The Claim:?Other UN agencies deliver humanitarian?assistance?in crisis zones across the globe. They would be better placed to do UNRWA’蝉 job.

The Facts:?UNRWA directly manages critical public-like services (schools, health centers, social protection) in its 5 areas of operations, relaying on a staff corps of 30,000 people, most of them Palestine refugees, thus serving their own communities.?UNRWA’蝉 established infrastructure and its cost-effectiveness – especially as?the majority of?its staff are part of the UNRWA Area Staff (national) category, with salaries pegged to public sector comparators) – have?no equivalent elsewhere in the UN. This means that UNRWA Area Staff are paid on average between 40% and 70% less than other UN locally recruited staff,?as the comparators used for their salary scales are the host governments in the countries and areas of operations where UNRWA works.

In addition, UNRWA responds to emergency situations, such as in Gaza today, using its staff, community acceptance and knowledge, and their longstanding experience gained over several conflicts and crises. With over 2 million people in dire need of life-saving humanitarian?assistance?in Gaza, no other Agency?is able to?respond at the scale needed at present. UNRWA has 13,000 staff and over 300 installations in Gaza, far surpassing the capacity of all other humanitarian actors. The UN Secretary-General has called UNRWA the backbone of the humanitarian response there. Other UN Agencies and international NGOs have recognized the irreplaceable role of UNRWA in Gaza, and?publicly announced?their support for the Agency.

For example, even if another agency supplies vaccines, it is UNRWA medical staff that get those vaccines into the arms of children at UNRWA clinics. So, UNRWA is an essential link in the chain. UNRWA’蝉 main activity is education.??across its five areas of operations, there is no easy substitute, not even at government level, for UNRWA’蝉?work.

It was hoped that UNRWA local staff) would be folded into Palestinian public institutions once a political solution was reached. This is why also their salary scales are aligned to those entities in the public services where they work.?

Other UN agencies have around 220 staff combined between?international?and national, and they do not have the same public service roles.?

The Claim:?UNHCR is mandated to resettle refugees and solve refugee issues. It could take over UNRWA’蝉 job.

The Facts:?The 麻豆APP General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 and UNHCR in 1950, providing them each with distinct mandates to?assist?and protect refugees.?These decisions are enshrined in the UN General Assembly??that created UNRWA in 1949 and has been renewed ever since,?the?, which was also adopted by the UN General Assembly, and the?,?which is an international treaty.?Neither UNRWA nor UNHCR can unilaterally change their mandates

UNRWA and UNHCR have very distinct functions. UNRWA is a direct service provider. At the core of these services are education and health. UNRWA provides public-like services.??UNHCR does not have a mandate over Palestine refugees within the UNRWA areas of operations.?However, in certain circumstances, UNHCR has a mandate?regarding?Palestine refugees when they are outside the areas where UNRWA operates.

Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle Palestine refugees and has no authority to seek lasting durable solutions for refugees. UNRWA is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide services to Palestine refugees in five fields of operation:?Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Gaza. And it is mandated to do so?pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Palestine refugees within UNRWA’蝉 fields of operations are specifically excluded from the mandate of UNHCR, which has a resettlement mandate. However, according to UNHCR,??actually get?it each year. ?

It is worth noting that the protracted situation in which Palestine refugees live is not unique. Resettlement requires the consent not only of refugees but also of the receiving state.??estimated that 78 per cent of all?16 million refugees?under its mandate were in protracted refugee situations in 2022. Of the?29.4 million refugees?under UNHCR protection that year, only about 1.15 per cent (339,300) were repatriated?to their country of origin. Less than half a per cent (114,300) were resettled in a third country or naturalized as citizens in their country of asylum (50,800). The vast majority remained refugees, pending a solution to their plight.

The Claim:?Donor money would be better spent supporting governments in the region to?assist?Palestine refugees, rather than doing so via UNRWA.

The Facts:?UNRWA’蝉 mandate was first set out by the UN General Assembly in?. UN Member States decide where and how UNRWA should?operate.?

During regular reviews of its mandate, UN Member States have continued to task UNRWA to?provide?support to Palestine refugees throughout its five fields of operation: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Gaza. It is tasked with doing so pending a just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestine refugees.

In addition, UNRWA runs essential public services for Palestine refugees, such as schools and clinics. It does this with some 30,000 personnel, most of whom are Palestinian, and whose pay scale is aligned to that of the local civil services where they work. The reason for this is that?it is hoped that they will transition into Palestinian public institutions once a political solution is reached.?

While some Palestine refugees have citizenship in their host countries, many do not, and lack legal status thus depending on UNRWA for access to basic services and?assistance.?

The Claim:?UNRWA does not take reports against it seriously.

The Facts:?UNRWA has zero tolerance for hate speech, discrimination, or incitement to violence as well as any action that could be viewed as taking sides in conflict. Adherence to UN values and upholding humanitarian principles, including neutrality,?represents?a fundamental pillar of UNRWA’s value system and is critical for the Agency to be able to?operate?on the ground. The Agency systematically reviews all allegations of misconduct, including breaching UN values and humanitarian principles and launches investigations into any credible allegation, applying disciplinary measures where misconduct has been?established?up to and including separation.??

Please refer to the ‘Background’ section above for details of the very swift steps taken by UNRWA concerning the allegations that 12 of its staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel.

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