United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday implored member states to bridge a $100 million financial deficit facing the cash-strapped UN agency for “Palestinian refugees" (UNRWA), Reuters reported.
He warned that a combination of stringent cost-cutting and aggressive austerity measures has brought the humanitarian body dangerously close to total collapse.
Addressing a UN General Assembly ad hoc pledging committee, Guterres described an increasingly perilous landscape for the agency, fueled by widespread cash deficits and heavy operational restrictions.
The United States historically served as UNRWA's primary financial backer but halted its funding in January 2024 after Israel provided evidence that roughly a dozen agency employees participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
Although a wave of other major international donors temporarily froze their funding while the United Nations reviewed the claims, the majority have since reinstated their financial support.
Guterres argued that the current liquidity crisis severely threatens the agency’s ability to fulfill its core mandate, a directive overwhelmingly extended by the General Assembly just six months ago.
"They cannot keep going like this without urgent backing and financial support from member states," Guterres said, according to Reuters, claiming that the agency had taken decisive steps to implement reforms and update its policy on outside and political activities following Israel's revelations.
"UNRWA is a stabilizing force in an age of instability," he said, rejecting what he called continued efforts to undermine the agency through "disinformation, smear campaigns, legislative actions, operational restrictions, diplomatic roadblocks and more."
UNRWA has already downscaled its active service delivery hours by 20% this year, reduced wages for local employees, and left 15% of its foreign administrative roles unfilled. Guterres warned, > "Any further cuts could push conditions past the breaking point."
Following the Israeli revelations, the UN formed a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations. The group said in its report that it found neutrality-related issues" in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.
Despite all the evidence showing UNRWA’s deep ties to Hamas, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel must facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through UN agencies, including UNRWA. That ruling was criticized by Israel as well as by the US.