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STORY: UN / COLONNA UNRWA PRESSER
TRT: 03:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
22 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“UNRWA has in place a very significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principle of neutrality. I assure you, it probably has a more developed system than other UN organisations or agencies.”
5. Wide shot, cameras
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“There's always room for improvement and some issues related to neutrality persist. This is why this mission was created.”
7. Wide shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“I would like to stress that the international community has a responsibility in helping and supporting UNRWA in addressing neutrality issues. Globally speaking, in its mission, including in helping the agency to address these difficult challenges it faces sometimes.”
9. Wide shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“UNRWA’S installations have been used for - misused, rather I should say - for political or military purposes, by various groups. You know, not thinking of one only here, you know, various parties, various groups. And this is undermining the neutrality of the installation. It should not happen. Preventive measures, enhanced monitoring of these violations, transparent reporting, all necessary steps to address this issue effectively.”
11. Wide shot, Colonna at the podium
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“Although UNRWA has made considerable progress in the past few years to mitigate the risk addressed to some content promoting hate or inciting violence, in the textbooks in the classroom, it now needs, now needs to implement, zero tolerance policy.”
13. Med shot, journalist
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).:
“Some of the content – marginal, but even if marginal - we write, is problematic. Glorification of jihad, incitation to violence, maps of the current world - not historical maps - not showing the existence of Israel, so many other problematic issues, with lots of examples. This is unfortunately a really well documented area.”
15. Wide shot, Colonna at the podium
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine Colonna, Chair, Independent Review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA):
“I'm confident that implementing these measures will help UNRWA in delivering on this mandate. I would, you know, strongly encourage again the international community to be side by side with the agency so it can perform its mission and overcome the challenges, when they are there.”
17. Wide shot, end of presser
Catherine Colonna, who on Saturday submitted her Final Report as Chair of the Independent Review Group on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), today (22 Apr) told reporters in New York that UNRWA has in place “a more developed system than other UN organisations or agencies” to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principle of neutrality.
Colonna pointed out that “there's always room for improvement and some issues related to neutrality persist.”
She stressed that the international community “has a responsibility in helping and supporting UNRWA in addressing neutrality issues.”
Among those issues, Colonna said, “UNRWA’S installations have been used for - misused, rather I should say - for political or military purposes, by various groups,” which is “undermining the neutrality of the installation.”
She recommended “preventive measures, enhanced monitoring of these violations, transparent reporting” in order to “address this issue effectively.”
The Chair of the Independent Review Group told reporters that “although UNRWA has made considerable progress in the past few years to mitigate the risk addressed to some content promoting hate or inciting violence, in the textbooks in the classroom, it now needs, now needs to implement, zero tolerance policy.”
She noted that “some of the content – marginal, but even if marginal - we write, is problematic.”
This includes, Colonna said, “glorification of jihad, incitation to violence, maps of the current world - not historical maps - not showing the existence of Israel, so many other problematic issues, with lots of examples.”
She added, “this is unfortunately a really well documented area.”
To conclude, Colonna said, “I'm confident that implementing these measures will help UNRWA in delivering on this mandate. I would, you know, strongly encourage again the international community to be side by side with the agency so it can perform its mission and overcome the challenges, when they are there.”
The Report, entitled “Independent review of mechanisms and procedures to ensure adherence by UNRWA to the humanitarian principle of neutrality" was produced with the help of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The Secretary-General accepted the recommendations contained in the report, and has agreed with Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, that UNRWA, with the Secretary-General’s support, will establish an action plan to implement its recommendations.
