UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog group, released a report Monday accusing the U.N. relief agency UNRWA of grossly overstating how many reforms it has actually completed after allegations that its staff had ties to Hamas.
UNRWA has publicly claimed it finished 41 of the 50 reforms recommended by an independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. UN Watch says that’s not true. After comparing UNRWA’s claims against what Colonna actually recommended, the group found at most 13 of the 50 reforms had been completed as prescribed.
UN Watch says UNRWA repeatedly counted drafting a policy, launching a pilot program, or writing up a plan as a “completed” reform, even when nothing had actually been implemented.
“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.”
The report lands amid renewed scrutiny of UNRWA. President Donald Trump amplified a report in August about a U.S. government investigation that referred more than 100 current or former UNRWA employees over alleged ties to Hamas, sharing it on Truth Social.
Staff vetting and textbooks
Among the specific examples UN Watch cites is staff screening. UNRWA lists a “Commercial Vetting Pilot & Costed Plan” as a completed reform, along with other screening measures. UN Watch says a pilot program and a plan are not the same thing as a fully operational outside vetting system.
The report also takes aim at UNRWA’s education reforms. The agency lists systematic textbook reviews and randomized classroom inspections as completed, while a policy banning problematic educational content is still listed as “in progress.”
Colonna herself said when she presented her review in April 2024 that problematic content remained in the curriculum, pointing to “glorification of jihad,” incitement to violence, and maps that omit Israel entirely. She called for a zero-tolerance approach.
The UN’s defense
Pressed at Tuesday’s U.N. briefing over who independently verifies that these reforms are actually working, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric defended the process.
“It is not just checking boxes for the sake of checking boxes,” Dujarric said. “It’s about the implementation of those things.”
Dujarric said UNRWA reports regularly to the General Assembly, holds integrity meetings open to member states, and gives governments a chance to scrutinize the agency’s work. On staff screening specifically, he said UNRWA relies on the countries where it operates to check people, sharing staff lists with Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian authorities. “If there are concerns, they need to be shared directly with UNRWA. When they are, they take action,” he said.
The Colonna review was commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2024 after allegations that UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Guterres accepted all 50 recommendations that April and agreed with UNRWA leadership on an action plan to carry them out.
Neuer says this is no dispute over paperwork semantics.
“This is not a semantic disagreement over the meaning of ‘completed,'” he said. “UNRWA says the job is done, yet teachers tied to terrorist organizations remain in classrooms, Hamas-dominated unions obstruct discipline, and children continue to be exposed to incitement. Those are real-world consequences, not technicalities.”
