Independence

Independence is understood to mean that “humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented.” In other words, without independence and the autonomy that it affords the Agency, UNRWA would be at risk of being diverted from its humanitarian trajectory and its commitment to the other three Humanitarian Principles of humanity, impartiality, and neutrality.

Therefore, there is a stringent staff conduct framework in place to ensure that staff members do not affiliate themselves, and by extension, UNRWA, with any other groups. Furthermore, UNRWA vets all of its partners in accordance with the UNRWA Vetting/Due Diligence Policy to ensure that it does not engage with any third party who appears on the Consolidated UN Sanctions List.