Finland to Resume Funding for UNRWA

Finland will resume funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), according to its Foreign Trade and Development Minister.

This came after countries such as Canada, Australia, and Sweden restored their funding to UNRWA, while several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, increased funding.

In a press conference held on Friday, Foreign Trade and Development Minister Ville Tavio said: “UNRWA improving its risk management, meaning preventing and initiating close monitoring for misconduct, provides sufficient guarantees for us at this point to continue our support.”

Tavio also noted that some of the Finnish money would be earmarked for risk management.

Earlier, a number of countries, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to UNRWA after unverified accusations by Israel that a dozen of the agency’s 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.