What Is UNRWA, the Palestinian Aid Agency, and What Does It Do?

The Australian government reversed its decision to pause funding to Gaza aid organisation UNRWA on Friday after seven weeks of controversy and campaigning by pro-Palestine activists. 

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government’s decision to “unfreeze” $6 million in funding, almost two months after it paused its ties, came because it was clear there was no evidence the agency’s employees were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack, as the Israeli government had claimed earlier this year.

Wong said Australia had consulted with UNRWA and other UN member states that provide funding and said it had concluded the agency was not a terror organisation, Wong said. 

“We know that UNRWA is central and vital to delivering that assistance,” Wong said at a press conference.

“It’s a prime consideration in restoring funding to ensure that Australian funding is used appropriately - and we are doing that.

“I would also say it is a prime consideration to recognise that we have children and families who are starving. We have a capacity, along with the international community, to assist them and we know that UNRWA is central and vital to delivering that assistance to the people who need it.”

This $6 million that was paused due to Israel’s unfounded allegations on UNRWA employees was additional funding the Australian government had announced at the start of the year, on top of the $20 million it already provided this financial year.

Wong said the paused funds would be immediately released.

Australia’s reversal comes after the European Union and Canada also paused and restarted their UNRWA funding while they similarly investigated Israel’s claims.

Wong also announced the government would give $4 million in extra funding to Unicef and $2 million to a new UN Gaza aid venture, bringing Australia’s total humanitarian support since the crisis began to $52.5 million.

Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi, who has been calling for the funding to be reinstated since it was first paused, said in parliament last week there was blood on the Australian government’s hands.

“Finally, after 48 days and under intense pressure from the Greens and the community, Minister Wong has restored UNRWA funding, which was inexcusably cut off,” she said.

“Without humanitarian aid, children are being starved in the ruins of Gaza and are dying of malnutrition. Restoring UNRWA funding is the bare minimum, the Labor government should publicly pressure Israel to allow aid into all parts of Gaza. 

“I hope this is the start of the Labor government breaking away from their unquestioning and immoral support of Israel. Now, Labor must call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and an end to the occupation and apartheid.”   

UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) was established in 1949 by a UN General Assembly resolution, months after the ethnic cleansing of Palestine began in May 1948 and the State of Israel was established by European-backed Zionist forces. Israel’s occupation drove 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, causing a refugee crisis.

The agency was set up to provide direct relief to Palestinian refugees and began operations on May 1, 1950. 

The program has been repeatedly renewed, over and over, because no solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis has been found and the number of Palestinian refugees eligible for UNRWA’s services has grown from 700,000 to six million.

UNRWA is unique because it serves one group of refugees, which it has served across four generations, and delivers services directly to those in need without third-party involvement.

Its headquarters are located in Gaza, but it also operates in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the West Bank. 

It is also one of the largest United Nations programmes, with more than 30,000 staff and volunteers. 

UNRWA is almost entirely funded by voluntary contributions from the 193 UN member states, including Australia. Almost 90 per cent of its $1.1 billion annual intake comes from foreign governments.

Australia, once the 10th biggest donor to UNRWA, has slipped down the list but has been a longstanding partner and made financial contributions every year since 1951. 

So where does all the UNRWA funding go? UNRWA has a number of goals it sets out to achieve around ending poverty, hunger, poor health and inequality. To do so, it runs its funding down several avenues. Day-to-day these include the operation of 706 primary schools across its five regions, delivering health services through hospitals, primary health facilities and its own clinics, and maintaining and upgrading refugee camps. 

UNRWA has 13,000 staff working with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank who are currently facing an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. 

UNRWA is providing emergency health care and food relief, delivering medical supplies to hospitals and food staples like flour to residents.

But the uphill battle it’s fighting is made steeper by allegations from Israel.

After Israel accused UNRWA staff of conspiring with Hamas, new internal documents have revealed UNRWA staff in the West Bank – where the agency runs 96 schools and 43 health clinics – have allegedly been harassed and obstructed in their aid work by the Israeli Defense Force and authorities, suggested to be systematically undermining the agency. 

UNWRA spokesperson Juliette Touma told the Guardian the incidents in the West Bank were “part of a wider pattern of harassment that we are seeing against UNRWA in the West Bank and Jerusalem”.

Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.

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