Ottawa is resuming funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Canada’s Minister for International Development Ahmed Hussen said in an announcement on Friday.

Hussen said the decision was taken in part so that more could be done to urgently respond to the dire needs of Palestinian civilians who are “at a serious risk of mass starvation in parts of Gaza”.

Canada had paused funding amid allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct 7 attack. With Hussen’s announcement, it is the first country to resume funding for UNRWA which employs 13,000 people in Gaza to run schools, healthcare clinics and other social services, and to distribute humanitarian aid.

The minister said although the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report regarding the allegations against UNRWA employees wasn’t final yet, Canada has reviewed the investigation’s interim findings and is assured that the agency has taken measures to strengthen its processes.

“In recognition of the robust investigative processes underway, UNRWA’s efforts to address serious allegations made against some of its staff, including the implementation of internal measures to improve oversight and accountability, as well as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, Canada is resuming its funding to UNRWA so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians,” Hussen said.

“Canada will continue to take the allegations against some of UNRWA’s staff extremely seriously and we will remain closely engaged with UNRWA and the UN to pursue accountability and reforms.”

The UNRWA has said it had sacked the staff accused by Israel of involvement, saying at the time that the Israeli allegations — if true — were a betrayal of UN values and of the people UNRWA serves.

Hussen’s statement comes weeks before Ottawa’s next scheduled payment of CAD 25m to the agency.

The last payment to UNRWA was made in December, amounting to around 25m Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, no regularly scheduled payments were missed during the temporary pause that began in January.