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International-UN-NGOs

Switzerland resumes funding of UN’s Palestinian aid agency

2019-12-21

[IsraelTimes] Move comes after United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
probe into alleged wrongdoing by UNRWA management clears organization of mismanaging donor funds.

Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
said Friday it had resumed payments to the UN’s embattled agency for Paleostinian refugees after a UN probe cleared the organization of allegations of mismanaging funds.

Switzerland was among a number of countries that halted their contributions to UNRWA earlier this year amid suspicions that the organization had misused donor funds.

The organization also faced allegations of "serious ethical abuses" by the management, including its then chief, Pierre Krahenbuhl, a Swiss citizen who resigned last month.

In early November, UN Secretary-General António Guterres

...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
released a statement saying the preliminary findings of an internal UN probe found no "fraud or misappropriation of operational funds" by Krahenbuhl.

"There are, however, managerial issues that need to be addressed," his statement said.

An internal ethics report has alleged senior management engaging in "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives."

The Swiss foreign ministry told AFP in an email Friday that Guterres had confirmed in a letter sent to Bern on December 3 that "the probe uncovered no evidence of misappropriation of funds."

The ministry also highlighted reforms put in place by UNRWA to better manage donor funds.

"Taking into account the measures taken and the confirmation from the UN Secretary-General that no donor funds had been misappropriated, [Switzerland] has decided to resume its payments to UNRWA," it said.

Before halting its payments to the agency, Switzerland had already dished out 25 million Swiss francs ($25.4 million) in 2019.

In 2018, the wealthy Alpine nation provided the organization with funds of 26 million francs.

UNRWA was set up in the years after more than 700,000 Paleostinians were expelled or fled their lands during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

It provides schooling and medical services to millions of impoverished refugees in Jordan, Leb and Syria as well as the Paleostinian territories, and employs around 30,000 people, mostly Paleostinians.

Posted by:trailing wife

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