Two UN processes examined different questions about UNRWA. The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigated allegations against named staff; the Colonna review assessed the agency’s neutrality systems. OIOS found evidence in nine cases that could indicate involvement in the October 7 attacks, while the review identified agency-wide safeguards and areas needing stronger action.
UNRWA’s mandate and services
The UN General Assembly established UNRWA through Resolution 302 (IV), adopted on 8 December 1949. The agency provides education, primary health care, relief and social services, and emergency assistance in five operating areas: Gaza, Judea and Samaria including eastern Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The Colonna review’s account of UNRWA’s mandate describes its General Assembly mandate and governance.
What OIOS concluded in the staff cases
On 26 January 2024, UNRWA said it had terminated contracts of staff named in allegations and referred the matter for investigation. The Secretary-General tasked OIOS with investigating. In its 5 August account of 19 cases, the agency reported that OIOS obtained no evidence in one case, insufficient evidence in nine, and evidence in the remaining nine that, if authenticated and corroborated, could indicate involvement. Those nine employees would not work for UNRWA. The Secretary-General’s note on the completed OIOS investigation records these outcomes. The findings concern individual cases; they do not establish that every allegation was proven.
What the Colonna review examined
Appointed by the Secretary-General in February 2024 and chaired by Catherine Colonna, the independent group reviewed the mechanisms UNRWA uses to uphold neutrality and respond to breaches. It did not investigate the individual staff cases. The report said UNRWA had significant neutrality mechanisms and a more developed approach than similar UN or NGO entities. It also identified problems including staff publicly expressing political views, problematic material in some host-country textbooks used in UNRWA schools, and politicized staff unions disrupting operations. Its recommendations covered governance, oversight, staff conduct, facilities, education, unions, donor engagement, and coordination with other UN agencies. The full independent review sets out those findings and recommendations.
These findings call for individual accountability alongside stronger agency oversight. The OIOS case results and the Colonna review address separate parts of that task: investigating alleged conduct and improving safeguards that protect humanitarian operations.