The latest visa non-renewal of the UNOCHA spokesperson for Gaza follows a pattern of actively silencing aid workers from the UN & international NGOs who are considered "too vocal" about what they have seen on the ground.
Humanitarian workers have a duty to bear witness when international law is being broken.
Increasingly, humanitarian partners are being forced to make a choice between being the "voice of the voiceless" or being permitted to do their work at all.
This pattern must end. No humanitarian should ever have have to make this compromise.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, over 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
