Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of UNRWA in removing antisemitic material from school textbooks used in (a) the West Bank and (b) Gaza.

Education is an essential component to the humanitarian response in Gaza, and critical to building the foundations for a sustainable and lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. It is therefore essential that partners delivering education services across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), including United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uphold the highest standards of neutrality. Catherine Colonna's Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality notes that the most recent UNRWA Rapid Review of textbooks from the Palestinian Authority (2022/2023) "found that 3.85 per cent of all textbook pages contain issues of concern to UN values, guidance, or position on the conflict". The UK supports the Colonna review's conclusion that "the presence of even a small fraction of problematic content in textbooks, supplemental material and teaching content remains a serious issue." We welcome the initiatives launched by UNRWA to ensure neutrality of its educational material and teaching, in addition to its long-standing work with UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority to reform curricula and educational materials. £1 million of UK funding to UNRWA this financial year has been earmarked for the implementation of the Colonna review's recommendations.