Brussels, 10/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 9 September, the European Union announced €52 million for Palestine to support economic and social development, and the measures set out in the Palestinian national development plan for 2011-2013 to strengthen Palestinian institutions. These funds are the last tranche of European aid for Palestine under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) in 2013.
An allocation of €20 million will go to the construction of a new water treatment plant in Nablus. This plant should contribute to the protection of water resources in the region, reduce the risks to health caused by wastewater that is released into the environment without sufficient treatment, and enable this treated wastewater to be re-used, states the Commission in a press release.
€13 million will be used to support governance in Palestine, helping municipalities that invest in small-scale infrastructure projects and improving management practices for better delivery of services, and strengthening the efficiency of the PEGASE mechanism - an instrument to channel EU and international assistance with a view to supporting the creation of a Palestinian state.
Support for the private sector (€11 million) will enable sustainable economic and social development to be promoted, led by the private sector. “The EU and Palestinian Authority recognise that only a dynamic and growing private sector will be able to create the jobs necessary to face the growing Palestinian population and gradually reduce the public wage bill, while generating the revenues required to fund essential public services”, the Commission states in a press release.
Lastly, €8 million will support the delivery of community services in East Jerusalem, such as the improvement of living conditions for the people in East Jerusalem, the protection of the rights of women and of vulnerable girls, and the improvement of local employment opportunities for women.
The total ENPI allocation for Palestine stands at €300 million for 2013.
On Monday 9 September, Palestine's Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in Brussels to discuss the Palestinian Authority's difficult financial situation and the meeting of the special liaison committee, which will be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in the second half of September. Ashton and Hamdallah also discussed the deepening of bilateral relations between the EU and Palestine, and Ashton reiterated the EU's support for the Middle East peace process. (CG/transl.fl)