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Palestinian people holding empty bowls try to reach out for food distributed by UNRWA workers at donation point.
UNRWA, explained
UNRWA: What is it?
In the days since Israel accused employees of UNRWA of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, the US and at least nine other countries have temporarily suspended funding for the UN agency, which provides humanitarian aid and social services to the roughly 6 million Palestinians classified as refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
What is the origin of UNRWA?
The United Nations Relief Works Agency was created in 1949 by the recently founded United Nations to provide humanitarian aid and economic support to the roughly 700,000 Arabs of Palestine who fled or were driven from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948.
What does UNRWA do?
It runs schools and health clinics, delivers humanitarian aid, food, and cash assistance to the poor, and runs basic microfinance programs. The agency employs about 20,000 education staff, who run more than 700 schools, and more than 3,000 health staff working at roughly 170 hospitals.
Who funds it?
UN members who donate to its budget. In 2022, the US was the largest single donor country, giving about a third of UNRWA’s $1.2 billion budget, or $343 million. The combined contributions of the EU and its member states amount to about 40% of the budget. Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab donor, coming in with $27 million. Among other leading countries from the Global South, India donated $5 million, Russia gave $2 million, and China just $1 million. You can see the full list here.
How important is Gaza in UNRWA’s work?
About half of the agency’s total staff is employed in Gaza alone, and it is the strip’s largest employer after Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Since Hamas came to power nearly 20 years ago, a security blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt has kept the enclave largely cut off from the outside world. As a result, UNRWA is a critical source of aid and services for the strip’s roughly 2 million people, 75% of whom are refugees.
How will the funding cutoff affect UNRWA?
UNRWA says that without a resumption of funding, it will be unable to continue functioning in Gaza beyond February and that this could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Even before Israel’s recent siege, bombardment, and invasion, between 60% and 80% of Gazans lived in poverty, according to the World Bank and the UN. Since Oct. 7, more than 80% of the population has been displaced. Nearly half are sheltering in UNRWA-run facilities. The UN is warning that if UNRWA’s activity is curtailed, a famine will be “inevitable.”
What are the controversies surrounding UNRWA?
Successive Israeli governments have criticized UNRWA for fomenting anti-Israeli sentiment in its schools, taking a political position in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and lending support to Palestinian militants. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has long called for UNRWA’s dissolution – said the agency is “riddled” with Hamas.
What is the relationship between Hamas and UNRWA?
The militants of Hamas are the governing authority in Gaza, and their movement is deeply rooted in the strip’s religious and social institutions. In principle, this makes it almost impossible for UNRWA to operate without interacting with Hamas or employing its sympathizers.
Abetting or participating in a militant attack, of course, is a different story. UNRWA says it has terminated the employees allegedly involved and opened an investigation into the issue.
What is the relationship between UNRWA and Israel?
Despite its criticisms of UNRWA, Israel relies on UNRWA to distribute aid and provide services in Gaza. If UNRWA were dissolved or incapacitated, Israel’s army would, in principle, have to take on this task itself.
FILE PHOTO: A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, November 27, 2023.
A dozen countries suspend UNRWA funding over Oct.7 allegations
On Sunday, France, Austria and Japan announced they were joining the US, Germany, Canada, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia and Finland in pausing their funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. At least a dozen employees of UNRWA allegedly cooperated with Hamas in planning the Oct. 7 attacks.
Together, the countries that have pulled their money made up well over 60% of the funds for UNRWA in 2022, and representatives of the organization say they will not be able to function long without the support. Norway and Ireland, however, agreed to continue funding UNRWA, saying their work supporting the displaced and devastated population of Gaza is too important.
What happens now? UNRWA has fired nine of the 12 employees accused of cooperating with Hamas, though the details of their alleged collaboration are not publicly known. The US did frame its suspension of funding as temporary, leaving the door open to resumption. But UNRWA is already regarded with deep distrust within Israel, and the Biden administration may face pressure from its ally not to resume funding.
In the meantime, however, over 2 million Gazans are in desperate straits, displaced from their homes and reliant on UNRWA for what food and medicine they can get. Some are calling for the Gulf states to step in with funding to replace what the West has withdrawn, but no signs yet the money is forthcoming.
UN Security Council resolution calls for Gaza humanitarian pauses
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm.
How is Europe reacting to the different calls for ceasefire in the Gaza war?
The important thing, I think, was that the UN Security Council the other day managed to get a resolution adopted. It was proposed by Malta, and it calls for a multitude of ceasefires or pauses. Not necessarily a permanent ceasefire, but clearly extended periods in which humanitarian supplies can reach Gaza, and perhaps also provide the political necessary space for release, at least of some of the hostages. We'll see if first time the Security Council has managed to agree on anything in this particular conflict, if that has any effect whatsoever.
Is there risk of a serious disruption to air traffic due to volcanic eruption on Iceland?
Well, we've all learned from experience in that particular case. I remember myself being stranded in London a couple of years ago when there was that volcanic eruption. In this case, the experts who say the risks are far, far smaller or small town has been evacuated close to Reykjavik and close to the port of Keflavik. But they say that the risk of anything that would be disruption to air traffic is very small indeed, at least something good in the world today.
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Members of the rescue team from the Egyptian army inspect the damaged areas, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya September 13, 2023.
Libya’s death toll keeps rising
The death toll continues to rise in Libya, where at least 6,000 are now dead after two dams in the eastern part of the country burst due to torrential flooding. Most of the carnage is in the Mediterranean city of Derna.
The statistics are grim. The UN says that as many as 30,000 have been displaced, while other observers estimate that the death toll could rise to a staggering 20,000 as bodies continue to wash up on shore.
So far, the rescue effort has been grueling Debris and mud are hindering access to hard-hit communities. Meanwhile, destroyed roads and bridges are also compounding shortages of food and water.
Making matters worse, Libya has been mired in civil war for a decade, and political factionalism is further complicating rescue efforts.(More on that here.)
As chances of finding victims alive diminish, attention is shifting to how this part of the country became such a deathtrap. Analysts say that the dams had not been maintained by warring authorities for years, and never had any hope of suppressing heavy waters.Ambassador of Russia Vassily Nebenzia at the UN
Russian UN veto cuts aid deliveries to northwest Syria
Russia has voted down a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended a land border crossing needed to deliver crucial humanitarian aid from Turkey into northwestern Syria.
The Bab al-Hawa crossing is used by UN aid convoys to cross into Syria and is the main lifeline for around 4.5 million Syrians, many of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country during the brutal civil war that broke out a decade ago. (The UN says it has been providing aid to a whopping 2.7 million Syrians a month there.)
What happened? Russia was backed by China in refusing to extend the aid deal for another 12 months, joining Syria’s Bashar Assad – a close ally of the Kremlin also known as “The Butcher” for waging a brutal war on his own people – in saying that all aid should flow through Damascus, the capital. Assad has long claimed that using Bab al-Hawa violates Syrian sovereignty.
For more on why Russia is such a strong backer of the Assad regime, see our feature here.
But the other permanent members of the Security Council – the US, UK, and France – don’t trust that Assad would actually deliver and administer aid to civilians in the northwest, which is governed by Sunni Islamist rebels that have been trying to drive him from power for the past decade.
The timing is dire: It comes after a massive earthquake in February pummeled southern Turkey and northern Syria, further hampering civilians’ access to food, water, and medicine. While two previously-closed crossings from Turkey were temporarily reopened after the tragedy, they also expire next month. And even if they were to remain open, Bab-al Hawra accounts for a whopping 85% of aid deliveries into the northern part of the country.
Earthquakes expose political and humanitarian challenges in Turkey and Syria
In a recent episode of GZERO World, the International Rescue Committee's President and CEO, David Miliband, sheds light on the immense challenges of delivering aid in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria. With the northwest of Syria controlled by armed opposition groups, aid delivery remains a hurdle that needs to be overcome urgently.
Miliband highlights the compounded crises in Syria, with inadequate medical care, cholera outbreaks, freezing temperatures, and ongoing border skirmishes threatening the survival of the population. He notes, "Hope is hard to find if you live there."
The political repercussions of the earthquakes are already being felt in Turkey, with citizens demanding accountability for lax building standards and corrupt permit systems. Miliband draws parallels to the 1999 earthquake, which saw accusations of corruption and the ousting of the prime minister. He predicts that the government's response to the disaster will be a hot-button issue in the upcoming election.
But it's not just about politics. The migrant crisis is an urgent humanitarian issue, with Miliband emphasizing the need for fair and humane treatment of those who have been driven from their homes. As he puts it, "We need to fulfill legal as well as moral obligations."
Note: This interview appeared in a GZERO World episode on March 6, 2023: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
Northwest Syria's aid dilemma: the aftermath of devastating earthquakes
The two devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey near the Syrian border on February 6 have exacerbated the already-difficult challenge of getting humanitarian aid into a region plagued by conflict and political instability. In an interview with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, explains how aid delivery remains a challenge in northwest Syria, which is controlled by armed opposition group.
Although two new cross-border points opened after the earthquake, the IRC hasn't seen an increase in aid flows.“It's still very tough to get aid across the border," says Miliband. Humanitarian assistance for northwest Syria needs to travel across the border with Turkey because aid sent directly to Damascus stays with President Bashar al-Assad's government. Miliband notes that the situation was already dire in the region before the earthquakes, and the disaster has only compounded the crisis in Syria, with a lack of adequate medical care, cholera outbreaks, and freezing temperatures posing major risks to the population.
The overall politics of the region, which is still recovering from the decade-long Syrian Civil War, also remain dire. Northwest Syria was a conflict zone as recently as January, and 150 civilians were killed last year in border skirmishes.
“If you live there, it's very hard for people to keep any hope at all,” says Miliband.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
What obligations do rich nations have when it comes to refugees?
The recent tragedy of the migrant boat that sunk off the coast of Italy and killed 64 people raises an important question: are European leaders taking the right approach to prevent migrants from risking their lives in the first place? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer and David Miliband, the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, discuss the complex and urgent nature of the migrant crisis and the need for effective solutions.
Miliband notes that migration is not just a European issue but a global one, with people “on the move more than ever before” due to persecution, war, and disaster. He emphasizes the need to “balance fairness with humanity” and “fulfill legal as well as moral obligations for people who have been driven from their homes.”
To address this challenge, Miliband outlines four key elements to fair, humane migration: fast processing of asylum claims, proper integration of those allowed to stay, addressing criminal elements that exploit the lack of legal migration routes, and creating legal routes for asylum-seekers and migrants to travel safely.
Miliband predicts that migration will be one of the biggest challenges for the rest of this century, as people in countries with a per capita income of less than $7,000 will continue to seek a better life elsewhere.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
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