RAMALLAH - A U.N. Palestinian refugee agency is reeling from allegations of sexual misconduct and abuses of authority involving the agency chief and other senior management figures -- the latest controversy for the embattled agency that the U.S. withdrew funding from last year
The U.N. has launched an investigation via its internal watchdog into the allegations. The report, which was obtained by the Associated Press and was written by the agency’s ethics office, alleges that senior management figures including UNRWA’s commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl, “have engaged in sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority.”
The report alleges that an “inner circle,” involving Krahenbuhl, his deputy Sandra Mitchell, Chief of Staff Hakam Shawan and senior adviser Maria Mohammedi had ignored the usual decision-making processes and sidelined other directors and staff.
According to the AP, the report stated that Krahenbuhl had started a relationship with Mohammadi in late 2014 having been appointed to his position in March of that same year. The report stated that the relationship between the two “went beyond the professional,“ leading to “a toxic environment", which caused, “frequent embarrassment.”
The report alleges these acts were carried out "for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives, jeopardizing the credibility and interests of the agency."
On Thursday the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed a new deputy commissioner general, Christian Saunders, who took the place of Sandra Mitchell who resigned last month while denying all allegations against her in the report.
Speaking to the press, Thursday, Guterres said he would wait for the results of the inquiry and would “act accordingly,” once they are known.
Reached for comment about the latest scandal a State Department official told Fox News: “Our concerns about UNWRA go well beyond allegations about the conduct of individual UNWRA officials, although these are also of concern.”
“As we have said, our primary concern is that UNWRA's fundamental business model is broken.  The current UNWRA model has simply and clearly proved unsustainable."
Asked if UNRWA’s chief Krahenbuhl should resign, a U.N. diplomat said “it would help.”
Sen, James Risch, R-Idaho, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who had successfully pushed for the publication of a report that showed how UNRWA school textbooks funded by the U.S. were full of anti-Semitic incitement, told Fox News in an email: “I already had concerns about UNRWA activities, including their use of biased textbooks.”
He continued: “This latest news is very concerning and the UN should conduct a full investigation into these very serious allegations. I’m glad that US dollars are not currently being used to support this organization. It is inexcusable for a humanitarian organization to waste resources in this manner.”
The Trump administration cut off nearly $300 million in annual funding to UNRWA last year.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley reacted to the reports by tweeting: "This is exactly why we stopped their funding." (Fox News)