UNRWA 'backbone' of all humanitarian response in Gaza: Guterres
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Antonio Guterres and Martin Griffiths stress the importance of reviving funding to UNRWA to fulfill much-needed humanitarian operations in Gaza.
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United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres addresses a news conference during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023 (AP)
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described UNRWA as the "backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza" in a statement on Wednesday, urging countries to ensure its endurance and "lifesaving work" in the Strip.
This comes amid a movement to stigmatize the agency's credibility after "Israel" accused 12 of its members of being affiliated with the October 7 operation conducted by the Palestinian Resistance. As a result, an abundance of countries have opted to defund the organization, primarily led by its biggest funder, the United States.
Nine of the accused individuals have been fired, while one died, and the remaining two are yet to be determined. However, countries were still suspending funding regardless of the actions taken by the United Nations to battle these accusations and restore the organization's credibility.
Guterres told the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People that the allegations personally horrified him, adding that he had spoken to the donors on Tuesday to reassure them that action has been and will continue to be taken to counter incidents like these, although these claims were never proven true.
“UNRWA is the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza.”
— TRT World (@trtworld) January 31, 2024
UN Chief Antonio Guterres reiterated UNRWA’s fundamental role in the aid to Gaza, after several states paused funding to the UN agency over Israel’s claim that some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 attack pic.twitter.com/7uaBbCxPya
UN relief chief Martin Griffith, in a meeting in front of the UN Security Council on Gaza, echoed UNRWA's vitality in Gaza, affirming that humanitarian operations in Gaza rely solely on the continuity of the funding the organization receives.
"To put it very simply and bluntly: our humanitarian response for the occupied Palestinian territory is dependent, completely dependent, on UNRWA being adequately funded and operational."
He said the alleged actions of a few UNRWA members, although unfounded, still cannot jeopardize the livelihood of over 75% of Gaza's population. "It is a matter of extraordinary disproportion," he added.
He also released a statement with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee titled "We Cannot Abandon the People of Gaza," calling for the restoration of funds to UNRWA for the body to fulfill its responsibilities to Palestinians who are forced under horrific circumstances as a result of the Israeli genocide.
Withdrawing funds from @UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region.
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) January 31, 2024
My @iascch colleagues and I appeal for these decisions to be reconsidered. https://t.co/sDq02mYcXT
On the other hand, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said tangible reformative change must be made within the organization to avoid incidents of this sort. She added that the US decision to defund UNRWA was solely its own and independent of other donors.
Read more: UNRWA funding suspension shows donor nations complicit in war: Hamdan
Time is ticking
It has been made clear that there is a dire urgency to revitalize its funds. On Monday, UNRWA stated that if its funding is not resumed, it will not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February.
A spokesperson for the agency announced that “if the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February."
Earlier on Tuesday, the UN's coordinator for Gaza aid stressed that nothing can "replace or substitute" UNRWA.
"There is no way that any organization can replace or substitute (the) tremendous capacity, the fabric of UNRWA -- (their) ability and their knowledge of the population in Gaza," said aid coordinator Sigrid Kaag.
"There is no other humanitarian player in Gaza who can provide food and water and medicine at the scale that UNRWA does," said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.
"We want to see that work continued, which is why it is so important that the United Nations take this matter seriously, that they investigate, that there is accountability for anyone who is found to have engaged in wrongdoing."
