UNRWA Head Resigns During Ethics Probe
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants has resigned amid an internal probe into alleged mismanagement at the organization, the United Nations said Wednesday.
“A short while ago, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Pierre Krahenbuhl, informed the Secretary-General that he was resigning, effective immediately,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing.
The UN had earlier announced that Krahenbuhl had been placed on administrative leave as the probe proceeds.
In July, AFP revealed that senior UNRWA officials, including Krahenbuhl, were under investigation for “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses.
An internal ethics report obtained by AFP cited claims of “sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination, and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives.”
Days after the report, Switzerland announced that it was suspending funding of UNRWA.
