President Donald Trump recently amplified a report about a U.S.government investigation that referred more than 100 current or former UNRWA employees over alleged ties to Hamas — as a new watchdog report accuses the UN agency of overstating how much it has reformed.The scrutiny, which included Trump sharing the report on Truth Social in August, comes as Geneva-based UN Watch released a report Monday challenging UNRWA’s claim that it has completed 41 of the 50 reforms recommended by an independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.UN Watch says that when it compared UNRWA’s claims with what Colonna actually recommended, at most 13 of the 50 reforms had been completed as prescribed.
The group argues that UNRWA repeatedly counted drafting policies, launching pilot programs or creating plans as completed reforms even when full implementation had not occurred.UN AGENCY ACCUSED OF HAMAS TIES SEES ANOTHER EUROPEAN NATION CUT FUNDINGUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza, June, 2023.(Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)"UNRWA is grading its own homework—and giving itself credit for reforms that exist mainly on paper," UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital.
"A policy is not a reform if it is ignored, unenforced or blocked by staff unions dominated by Hamas."Among the examples cited in the report is staff vetting.UNRWA lists a "Commercial Vetting Pilot & Costed Plan" as completed, along with other screening measures.
UN Watch argues that a pilot and implementation plan do not amount to a fully operational outside vetting system.The report also challenges UNRWA’s education reforms.UNRWA lists systematic textbook reviews and randomized classroom inspections among completed steps, while a policy prohibiting problematic educational content is still described as "in progress."Colonna herself said when presenting her review in April 2024 that some educational content re...