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Boston Consulting Group pitched the UN company for Palestinian refugees on working for its humanitarian effort in Gaza, months earlier than serving to launch a broadly condemned rival help scheme that sidelined the UN.
BCG approached UNRWA shortly after Israel’s army marketing campaign started in late 2023, with a wide-ranging supply of professional bono work that by no means got here to fruition, based on folks aware of the matter and correspondence seen by the Monetary Instances.
The agency’s work associated to Gaza has stirred controversy because it was revealed that BCG went on to assist the Gaza Humanitarian Basis, an initiative backed by Israel and the US that has largely taken over meals distribution within the enclave.
Gazans should trek dozens of kilometres alongside perilous routes to achieve GHF meals websites. Scores of civilians have been killed by Israeli forces when attempting to entry them.
The GHF programme, which is concentrated in southern Gaza and staffed by US personal safety contractors, controversially sidelined the long-standing system operated by UNRWA and different teams.
The mooted undertaking for UNRWA would have been led by BCG consultants specialising in healthcare or based mostly within the Center East, based on a pitch deck for company officers from December 2023 seen by the FT.
“BCG has a protracted historical past of supporting within the aftermath of disasters and humanitarian crises,” one slide learn, above a timeline of a dozen earthquakes, climate occasions and pandemics whose responses BCG had labored on.
In contrast, the work for GHF emerged from the agency’s US defence apply. Phil Reilly, the ex-CIA operative who’s main safety for GHF, was a particular adviser working part-time for BCG’s defence apply for eight years till GHF was based on the finish of final yr.
BCG has halted and disavowed its work with the undertaking, saying it grew out of a feasibility examine the agency helped to provide in October 2024 on a professional bono foundation, however that subsequent work was “unauthorised”. Two BCG companions within the US defence apply have been fired.
BCG remained desperate to discover a method to work with UNRWA till January 2024, based on correspondence and folks aware of the matter. The consultants have been initially launched to UNRWA by the UN refugee company UNHCR.
The agency pitched growing a brand new fundraising technique for UNRWA and serving to replace the company’s humanitarian response plan, saying it might “present strategic steering to management crew and modern options to deal with disaster and aftermath”. Ultimately, the 2 sides didn’t agree on a undertaking.
An UNRWA spokesperson mentioned: “Throughout the exchanges, BCG appeared extraordinarily eager on supporting UNRWA and very real, solely they didn’t have concrete gives and we didn’t have concrete concepts.”
BCG mentioned that, following the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, it had “early discussions on potential professional bono assist” for UNRWA, “as we did with dozens of humanitarian teams”.
“Whereas we work with many UN companies, in January 2024, following the suspension of funding to UNRWA by the US, EU and different governments, BCG determined that it will not work with UNRWA,” it added.
UNRWA has lengthy been criticised by components of the Israeli political institution, which argues that its mandate to take care of Palestinian refugees has perpetuated, slightly than helped resolve, the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Israeli officers accused 19 of the company’s 13,000 workers in Gaza of taking part within the October 7 assaults and many countries halted funding whereas the UN investigated the allegations. UNRWA terminated the contracts of all 19, one among whom is now being reinstated, though the UN mentioned it had not been in a position to “independently authenticate a lot of the info offered” by Israel.
The EU and UK have since reinstated funding. The US has not.