Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was struggling to continue operations in Gaza before the war with Israel broke out on October 7, killing more than 26,200 people in the besieged enclave.
Like the last devastating war in Gaza, the recent conflict has seen UN schools turn into overcrowded, under-equipped displacement centres. But the current violence, many times that which occurred in 2014, is unprecedented and has led to the near collapse of the organisation.
On January 17, UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini described a visit to one of the schools-turned-shelters.
“The overcrowding was claustrophobic, and the filthiness was striking,” he said, adding that people were foregoing what little food and water they could find to avoid having to use unsanitary toilets.
People were unable to get access to food and medicine during the day either, he said – one of the tasks the UNRWA would carry out outside of war conditions.
In August 2023, the UNRWA said a lack of funding had disrupted many of its services in the enclave, delivered by 13,000 staff working across 300 buildings and complexes. Those sites offer education, health and mental care, relief and social services, cash and emergency assistance to Gaza's 1.7 million refugees.
About 300,000 children also attend UNRWA schools and vocational centres, which have been closed since the start of the October 7 war.
On October 11, the UN anticipated would need $104 million to continue its humanitarian response in Gaza over the next 90 days.
The UN now says more of its staff have been killed in the ongoing war than in any other previous conflict, with 152 dead while 141 UNRWA compounds have been damaged in the war.
One of the latest incidents took place on January 24, when a UNRWA training centre in the southern city of Khan Younis was hit by “direct fire” with 43,000 displaced people inside the centre and in its environs.
“The UNRWA shares the location of all its facilities, including shelters, directly with Israeli authorities,” it said in a statement without directly accusing Israel of carrying out the attack.
Only four out of the organisation's 22 healthcare centres remain operational.
In a blow to UNRWA operations, 12 UN staff were identified as possible suspects in the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas during which it killed 1,200 people in Israel. Nine countries, including some of the UN's biggest donors, including the US, pulled out funding from the UNRWA.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the UNRWA is about to run out of money for its work in Gaza following the funding cuts.
“The UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” Mr Lazzarini said on Saturday.
“The Agency runs shelters for over 1 million people and provides food and primary healthcare even at the height of the hostilities.”
He referred to Friday's ruling by the International Court of Justice that ordered Israel to take immediate action to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, as aid continues to pile up on the Egyptian border with Gaza.
About 3,000 of the UNRWA's 13,000 staff members continue to report to work, Mr Lazzarini said.
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Honeymoonish
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