ICRC Director: We will not replace the UNRWA

The UNRWA headquarters in Gaza. KEYSTONE/Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will not replace the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). "We already have enough to do without trying to replace other organisations," said ICRC Director Pierre Krähenbühl.

“We have completely different mandates. The UNRWA receives its mandate from the UN General Assembly, the ICRC from the Geneva Conventions,” Krähenbühl said in an interview with Le Temps published on Monday. “The ICRC will therefore not take over the UNRWA’s mandate.”

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In the interview, Krähenbühl was responding to calls from some parts of the Swiss People’s Party and Radical-Liberal Party for the ICRC to replace the Palestinian relief organisation UNRWA.

The new director general of the ICRC, and former boss of UNRWA, also returned to the criticism levelled against him by American Republican senators. In March, they sent a letter to the ICRC Assembly in which they demanded the departure of Krähenbühl and threatened to cut American funds granted to the institution.

When he was recruited, a formal request was made to the UN to see if there had been any problems of misconduct by the head of UNRWA, he said. “The UN response was clear and formal: there was nothing,” he said.

“Stabilised” financial situation

In addition to criticism linked to UNRWA, the ICRC was shaken by a serious financial crisis. The organization’s budget was reduced to $700 million in 2024 and 4,000 positions were eliminated.

“The last departures took place in March,” indicated Krähenbühl, who evokes a certain inner fragility in terms of cohesion and confidence. The volume of operations has also suffered, notably in Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria and elsewhere, he says.

The Genevan, however, affirms that the financial situation of the ICRC is now stabilised. “There were two projects to carry out at the time of the crisis: we had to make budget cuts, but we also had to develop a new institutional strategy at the same time,” he explains. “To have managed to do it in one year is no small feat”.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/mga

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