The United Nations has said there is no plan to transfer the Gaza Strip’s education system from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres directly denied the idea.
When former UNRWA official Khalil al-Halabi asked Guterres about reports of transferring the agency’s education activities in Gaza to UNESCO, the secretary-general briefly dismissed the idea. Guterres’s response was: “Certainly not.”
Al-Halabi, 72, has held several important posts, including deputy head of UNRWA’s education programme, director of the school education department, and the official responsible for northern Gaza. Even after retirement, he continues to work on Gaza’s education system.
According to al-Halabi, UNRWA has long experience managing Gaza’s education system. He said the agency has been running education programmes for Palestinian refugees for more than seven decades. Given that experience, he said, it would not be easy to hand responsibility to another organisation as a replacement for UNRWA.
The UN’s position emerged amid rumours about transferring responsibility for Gaza’s education system to UNESCO. According to the secretary-general’s remarks, there is currently no decision or plan to move UNRWA’s education activities to UNESCO.