UNRWA overstated progress on institutional changes, preserved terrorism issues, watchdog says

The investigation, titled the "Report Card on UNRWA Reform," analyzed the agency's implementation of 50 recommendations issued by an independent review group led by a former French foreign minister,Follow us on Google A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS)SEPTEMBER 15, 2026 18:31The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has substantially overstated its progress on institutional changes, substituting administrative paperwork for actual reform while underlying issues involving terrorism and incitement remain unaddressed, according to a scathing report published by Geneva-based watchdog UN Watch on Monday.The investigation, titled the "Report Card on UNRWA Reform," analyzed the agency's implementation of 50 recommendations issued by an independent review group led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.The Colonna review was originally commissioned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in early 2024 to restore donor confidence after devastating revelations that UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre, which led seventeen donor states to temporarily suspend $450 million in funding.While UNRWA now claims to have completed 41 of the 50 recommended reforms, the UN Watch analysis concludes this figure is misleading, noting that at most 13 recommendations have been fulfilled as prescribed."UNRWA has graded its own homework and awarded itself high marks," stated UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. "But issuing a policy is not the same as enforcing it. Drafting a plan is not the same as implementing it, and closing a recommendation does not mean that the underlying problem has been solved."The UNRWA emblem is displayed on a building at the Kalandia Training Center in Qalandia refugee camp, West Bank, on August 25, 2026. (credit: Mohammad Nazal / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)UNRWA adopts 'Minimum Viable Product' methodologyAccording to the report, UNRWA adopted a "Minimum Viable Product" methodology in mid-2025 that allowed recommendations to be classified as completed once a core objective was declared met, even where full implementation or institutionalization remained lacking.Under this approach, the agency repeatedly treated administrative steps, such as conducting pilot programs, drafting new guidelines, or preparing costed implementation plans, as completed reforms, even when execution remained dependent on future funding or subject to ongoing hurdles.Furthermore, the report claims that despite promises to clean up its hiring practices, UNRWA still lacks a reliable mechanism to systematically screen its local workforce for membership in Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.The agency relies primarily on the UN Security Council sanctions list, which does not designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. The report highlights that internal UN systems routinely fail to catch extremists, pointing to a June 2026 review by the USAID Office of Inspector General that independently referred 108 current or former UNRWA personnel for federal debarment due to ties to the October 7 attacks or Hamas military wings.The report said that institutional hurdles are also evident within staff unions. UNRWA marked all union-related reforms as fully completed simply because agency leadership drafted a modernized union statute. However, the report notes that the powerful staff unions, whose leadership has a long history of political radicalism and defending terror-linked colleagues, have refused to adopt the new rules. This was visibly demonstrated when the Gaza Staff Union aggressively mobilized to protest and demand the reinstatement of dozens of employees laid off over terror ties.Antisemitism remains deeply embedded in UNRWA curriculumIn education, the report notes that although UNRWA points to new teacher training programs and textbook review protocols as proof of progress, independent monitoring by IMPACT-se on the 2025–2026 Palestinian Authority school curriculum used in UNRWA schools shows that antisemitism, the glorification of suicide bombers, and the promotion of violent jihad remain deeply embedded in daily lessons.Physical security and facility oversight face similar gaps. The report emphasizes that paperwork and ethics posters cannot prevent the deliberate military misuse of UNRWA infrastructure. Because the agency lacks independent police, military, or intelligence capabilities, it remains entirely blind to underground threats like the network of Hamas attack tunnels discovered beneath and around its properties.The report concludes that these shortcomings are structural rather than managerial. Because UNRWA's mandate is intrinsically tied to a political framework that perpetuates refugee status across generations and relies almost entirely on locally recruited staff embedded in local political factions, administrative adjustments cannot force true political neutrality.UN Watch is calling on international donor governments to stop relying on UNRWA's self-reported progress metrics and instead demand independent, verifiable proof before restoring full financial backing.UNRWA did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.Follow us on Google