 In late October 2000, the areas of West Bank and Gaza under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction became subject to a tight border closure by Israel, causing a severe shock to the Palestinian economy. About 125,000 Palestinians laborers are no longer able to get to work inside Israel. As a result, West Bank and Gaza’s jobless rate has jumped to nearly 30 percent from a pre-crisis level of 10 percent, while the poverty rate has surged from 20 percent to an estimated 35 percent.
In response, the Bank in December 2000 launched an Emergency Response Program (ERP) with a $12 million grant to ease the harshest effects of the closure by offering temporary jobs to Palestinian workers. The project jumpstarted a range of micro projects, using locally-manufactured materials to repair and construct schools, clinics, water and wastewater networks, and roads. In addition, $1 million of the grant has been channeled through NGOs for labor-intensive activities in poor communities particularly hard-hit by the crisis.
Designed by the Bank in cooperation with village councils, municipalities and Palestinian Authorities agencies, the program has so far created more than 190,000 direct person days of work for Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza through 232 micro projects. About 99 percent of the available funds have been disbursed, and all micro projects were completed by August 2001. Co-financing ERP, the Canadian government has contributed $3.3 million and the Danish government has donated $3.7 million through the Bank's newly-established PEACE Facility, a donor partnership financing facility. Meanwhile, the Islamic Development Bank is preparing to give $7 million to the program, and the British, Germans and the Italians are considering contributions.
Updated: July 2002
|
RSS