2023-10-10 18:58:29
The European Union announced on Monday October 9 that it wanted ” goodbye “ its program” Development Assistance “ in favor of the Palestinians. Several European countries, including France, opposed a suspension, as suggested by a European commissioner.
First support
According to the European External Action Service, the EU’s “Quai d’Orsay”, “Some 2.1 million Palestinians, out of a total of 5.3 million, need humanitarian assistance”. This is particularly the case in the Gaza Strip, where “more than 80% of the population depends on aid due to the blockade and hostilities that undermine Gaza’s economy”.
The European Union also provides support to “some 800,000 Palestinians” in East Jerusalem, Hebron and much of the West Bank. It is the largest contributor to international aid for Palestine, if we include the European institutions, the Member States and their development aid agencies as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and development (BERD).
For the years 2021 to 2024, the EU has a budget of around 1.2 billion euros to financially support the Palestinians. The largest contributors are France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands.
Support from the Palestinian Authority
For the year 2022 alone, the European External Action Service spent 200 million euros on aid. More than half of the funds are used to directly support the Palestinian Authority, via the Pegase mechanism (Palestinian-European mechanism for managing socio-economic aid). The European Union thus contributes to the financing of public services, the salaries of civil servants and the distribution of social assistance to vulnerable families.
A significant part of European Union funds is directed towards a program to increase the volumes of drinking water in Gaza, where “the quantity and quality of drinking water remain below international standards”.
The organization also has a program to support small and medium-sized businesses to create a green economy in the Palestinian territories. Finally, the European Union finances education projects. “Schools continue to be damaged or demolished. Students are regularly harassed on the way to school, which restricts their access to education”thus denounces the European humanitarian aid organization (Echo) questioning the role of the settlers.
“Our assistance also helps to better prepare the health system for the sudden increase in needs caused by disasters, conflicts and public health emergencies. It also helps improve access to drinking water and sanitation services in medical facilities”, says Echo again. A small part of the European budget, around 1%, is devoted to the maintenance and promotion of Palestinian cultural heritage.
In addition to these 200 million euros spent in 2022, the European Union has dedicated an additional 100 million to support Palestinian refugees living in the occupied territories or neighboring countries, via funding from the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees ( Unrwa).
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