UK aid agencies highlight urgent Palestinian suffering
-09/05/06
As the Quartet of maj
UK aid agencies highlight urgent Palestinian suffering
-09/05/06
As the Quartet of major powers meets in New York to discuss the Middle East peace process, Save the Children UK, Christian Aid and Oxfam GB urges the European Union to reconsider the freeze on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The three largest UK aid agencies in the occupied Palestinian territories highlight the suspension of international aid to the Palestinian Authority and the failure of Israel to transfer Palestinian tax revenues as reasons for the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and breakdown in essential services.
Already, a quarter of all Palestinians are at risk of hunger according to the World Food Programme. The United Nations estimates that three out of four Palestinians will be forced to live on less than £1.10 a day within two years if funding to the Palestinian Authority is limited. Half of Palestinians are expected to become unemployed in the same period.
Ayed Kamal, a teacher and village council leader from Madama, near the Palestinian city of Nablus says: ì’I have not received my salary for three months now. My fellow teachers cannot afford to travel to our school.î
Kamal continued: ìThe village council was established to serve the needs of the local people. We are facing grave difficulties because of the lack of funding from international donors. Without incomes, local people can no longer afford to pay the village council for the electricity and water we provide.
Explained the teacher: ìWhen my family visits the health centre, medicines have disappeared from the shelves. The Ministry of Health does not have the money to provide them.î
Adam Leach, Oxfam’s Regional Director said: ìAs the international community has spent months deliberating over aid, essential public services have been undermined and nearly one million Palestinians have been denied an income.
He went on: ìWays must be found to ensure that aid can be delivered through the existing, mandated public authorities without it falling into the hands of any political organisation. Parallel funding structures are not the answer.î
According to William Bell, a policy advisor at Christian Aid who has just returned from the region: ìOur Palestinian partners are concerned that donor countries will seek to use them as replacement services providers. Neither they nor international agencies can act as a substitute for the existing authorities.î
Added Bell: ìIf the current crisis persists, we fear that insecurity and violence will only increase. This will seriously impede the ability of humanitarian workers to operate freely and where they are most needed.î
Jan Coffey, Programme Manager for Save the Children UK in the occupied Palestinian territory says that ìAny cut in assistance will have serious, negative consequences for Palestinian children. The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education currently manages three-quarters of all schools, reaching 70% of school age children.î
Coffey fears that ìThe school system will face collapse if teacher and administrator salaries are not paid, affecting over a million students throughout the country. The Palestinian public health system likewise faces a rapid decline towards possible collapse, with limited or no access to preventive and curative services for nearly half the population.î
Aid agencies are united in believing that freezing direct aid to existing institutions is not viable. In advance of the 10 May 2006 Quartet meeting they are asking the European Union to take this message to New York. Time is running out for the Palestinian people, they say.
UK aid agencies highlight urgent Palestinian suffering
-09/05/06
As the Quartet of major powers meets in New York to discuss the Middle East peace process, Save the Children UK, Christian Aid and Oxfam GB urges the European Union to reconsider the freeze on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The three largest UK aid agencies in the occupied Palestinian territories highlight the suspension of international aid to the Palestinian Authority and the failure of Israel to transfer Palestinian tax revenues as reasons for the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and breakdown in essential services.
Already, a quarter of all Palestinians are at risk of hunger according to the World Food Programme. The United Nations estimates that three out of four Palestinians will be forced to live on less than £1.10 a day within two years if funding to the Palestinian Authority is limited. Half of Palestinians are expected to become unemployed in the same period.
Ayed Kamal, a teacher and village council leader from Madama, near the Palestinian city of Nablus says: ì’I have not received my salary for three months now. My fellow teachers cannot afford to travel to our school.î
Kamal continued: ìThe village council was established to serve the needs of the local people. We are facing grave difficulties because of the lack of funding from international donors. Without incomes, local people can no longer afford to pay the village council for the electricity and water we provide.
Explained the teacher: ìWhen my family visits the health centre, medicines have disappeared from the shelves. The Ministry of Health does not have the money to provide them.î
Adam Leach, Oxfam’s Regional Director said: ìAs the international community has spent months deliberating over aid, essential public services have been undermined and nearly one million Palestinians have been denied an income.
He went on: ìWays must be found to ensure that aid can be delivered through the existing, mandated public authorities without it falling into the hands of any political organisation. Parallel funding structures are not the answer.î
According to William Bell, a policy advisor at Christian Aid who has just returned from the region: ìOur Palestinian partners are concerned that donor countries will seek to use them as replacement services providers. Neither they nor international agencies can act as a substitute for the existing authorities.î
Added Bell: ìIf the current crisis persists, we fear that insecurity and violence will only increase. This will seriously impede the ability of humanitarian workers to operate freely and where they are most needed.î
Jan Coffey, Programme Manager for Save the Children UK in the occupied Palestinian territory says that ìAny cut in assistance will have serious, negative consequences for Palestinian children. The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education currently manages three-quarters of all schools, reaching 70% of school age children.î
Coffey fears that ìThe school system will face collapse if teacher and administrator salaries are not paid, affecting over a million students throughout the country. The Palestinian public health system likewise faces a rapid decline towards possible collapse, with limited or no access to preventive and curative services for nearly half the population.î
Aid agencies are united in believing that freezing direct aid to existing institutions is not viable. In advance of the 10 May 2006 Quartet meeting they are asking the European Union to take this message to New York. Time is running out for the Palestinian people, they say.