The United States, Europe and Arab countries are considering greatly increasing – maybe even doubling – aid to the Palestinians on condition that they and Israel take certain steps toward reducing their conflict, American and Palestinian officials say, reports the World Bank press review Friday.
A four-year package of 6 billion to 8 billion US dollar (33 til 44 milliarder DKR) would be forthcoming, they said, if the Palestinian elections set for Jan. 9 occurred successfully and if the new government cracked down on militant groups and Israel lifted scores of roadblocks and checkpoints to ease the transit of goods and people in Palestinian areas.
The possibility of an aid increase was the subject of intense discussions at a donors meeting on Dec. 8 in Oslo. According to participants, the aim of the meeting was to help moderate Palestinian leaders after the death of Yasser Arafat and to prepare for the fulfillment of Prime Minister Ariel Sharons decision to pull settlers and forces out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
The World Bank says the package, which would come from the United States, the European Union, Arab states and other donors, would be the largest per person international aid program since World War II.
The Palestinians are already the world largest per capita recipients of international aid, getting about 1 billion US dollar (5,5 mia. DKR) for 3,5 million inhabitants, or nearly 300 dollar per person. The contemplated aid package would increase that amount by 50 to 100 percent.
– We are looking at the possibility of another 500 million dollar a year or more, but it has to be in the context of conditions permissive to a much deeper development effort, Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian finance minister, said. Other officials said the target was an additional 500 million to 1 billion US dollar a year.
Despite the large aid amounts in recent years, economic conditions have deteriorated and a lot of the financing was deemed wasted. Donors have complained of poor accounting practices.
A large portion of the financing in recent years has gone not for development but to help the Authority meet its payroll of 130.000 employees – a major jobs program that has prevented destitution for more than a million Palestinians.
Donors have been increasingly unhappy that so much of their money has gone to keep the Palestinian Authority afloat, and not to long-term economic improvement, but they say that Fayyad has instituted reforms improving accountability and increasing tax collections.
Nigel Roberts, the World Banks director for the West Bank and Gaza, said, that “donors are also able to see that all their spending over the last four years has yielded very little, and they want to exercise some leverage over the situation.”
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
