The European Union has released the first tranche of its
2015 financial support to the Palestinian Authority and to the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),
totalling €212 million. This new funding will help provide vital basic services
such as education, healthcare and social services to the Palestinian people.
Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations,
Johannes Hahn, commented: “The EU remains committed to the two-state
solution and will therefore continue to support the Palestinian Authority in
its state-building efforts and in delivering basic social services. Our support
remains the quickest and most effective way to deliver funding to the
Palestinians, including those living in Gaza, in a moment of severe
difficulties”.
This first tranche of €212 million consists of two
components:
- €130 million of direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority through PEGASE.
- €82 million financial support to UNRWA.
PEGASE (Mécanisme Palestino-Européen de Gestion de l'Aide
Socio-Economique) is the mechanism through which the EU helps the
Palestinian Authority build the institutions of the future independent
Palestinian State. Through the payment of salaries of civil servants and
pensioners, it ensures that essential public services keep operating; in
addition PEGASE provides social allowances to the Palestinian households living
in extreme poverty. Through this financial package, the EU also contributes to
alleviating the debts of the Palestinian Authority towards the East Jerusalem
hospitals and promotes the reform of the health referral system. Around 1/3 of
the total value of PEGASE is allocated to paying salaries, pensions and social
allowances in the Gaza Strip.
Via the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the EU is delivering its support to
Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, enabling
refugee families and their children to attend school, to receive medical
attention and to survive economically.
Background
This first tranche of new financial support to the
Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA is part of the 2015 annual assistance
package to support the Palestinian people. It is financed through the European
Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) in the framework of the European Neighbourhood
Policy. The ENI is the main EU financial instrument for support to Palestine[1] for the period 2014-2020.
The EU is a major donor to both the Palestinian Authority
and UNRWA, providing around €300 million each year to the Palestinian people,
including the refugees who live outside Palestine in the camps of Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria. In 2014, aid to the Palestinians amounted to €307 million,
including additional funding for UNRWA to face the consequences of the military
operation in Gaza.
The PEGASE mechanism was launched in 2008 and has since then
sustained the Palestinian Authority in its effort to pursue the fundamental
values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Over the years, it has
been improved and refined to ensure that the funding is further linked to
concrete achievements and key reforms from the Palestinian Authority.
