Brussels, 24/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - A meeting of the presidency and the co-presidency from the internal donors' conference was held in Paris on 22 January to follow up the decisions taken on 17 December 2007. Those attending the meeting - Bernard Kouchner for France; Tony Blair, Quartet Special Envoy for the Middle East; Jonas Gahr Stoere, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Norway; and European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner - took stock of the contributions announced by the international conference.
The meeting resulted in confirmation of the overall amount of contributions now reached, $7.7 billion. Donors began to pay their contributions from the first days of January. A large number of the donors intend to directly transfer their aid to the single account of the Palestinian Authority's treasury. This shows the confidence that donors have in the Palestinian Authority's ability to keep its commitments, their declaration states. A new European financial instrument known by its French acronym, PEGASE (standing for European-Palestinian aid management mechanism) has been created. Its forthcoming implementation as well as the creation of a trust fund managed by the World Bank will ensure “complementary” action. Urgency lies, however, in defining budgetary aid for 2008 to support the Palestinian economy as a major disaster weighs upon it. The situation in Gaza gives rise to serious economic and humanitarian concern, and an effort is needed on all sides, the declaration stresses. The donors are invited to meet their commitments as rapidly as possible. The Palestinian Authority is invited to ensure rapid and complete implementation of its recovery plan. Israel is called upon to improve the movement of goods and people which, as the IMF and the World Bank stressed, is a precondition for full economic recovery. The World Bank, however, does not believe that donor financing will be sufficient to ensure success of the Palestinian reform plan if Israeli restrictions continue. A further meeting of the presidency and co-presidency is envisaged for end March in Brussels and a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which ensures direct follow up of decisions taken by the international conference, will be held in London on 2 May.
In parallel to the meeting, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, received the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, on Wednesday 23 January. Kouchner said the “humanitarian situation in Gaza was unbearable” but considered the blockade was “not hermetically sealed”. “Aid from the European Union - which is huge - and aid from France continue to get through. Each time, we try to get the most aid possible through by speaking with our Israeli friends. We shall continue. There will be projects concerning the power plant that provides electricity and there are water projects (…), a number of immediate projects that we want to implement in Gaza”. He added: “We are absolutely certain that the best way of protecting the security of the State of Israel is to have a free, viable and democratic Palestinian State, and we shall continue along these lines”. He stressed that “there will be no military solution either in Gaza or in the Middle East. We need a political solution”. (F.B.)