Press Release

OPEC Fund extends US$1.2 million grant for social services project in Palestine

72/2005 June 15, 2005, Seefeld, Tyrol, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today approved a grant of US$1.2 million to support the activities of 12 civil society organizations in Palestine’s Gaza Strip. The aim is to assist the poorest and hardest hit communities by addressing shortages and helping to meet some of their most urgent needs. An earlier phase of the project supported a similar initiative in the West Bank.

Conditions in Palestine remain harsh, with the enforcement of curfews, closures and movement restrictions disrupting the economy and undermining the territories’ social fabric. Unemployment levels have escalated and more than 75% of Gaza’s population lives in poverty. The quality of basic municipal services has deteriorated sharply, as has the health status of the people. Normal coping strategies are now exhausted, and thousands of families face crisis.

Civil society organizations play a critical role in this emergency by sustaining and developing the economic and social sectors of Palestinian society. If they are to continue with this support, they urgently need financial backing.

The Fund’s grant will be drawn from its Special Grant Account for Palestine and extended to 12 Palestinian NGOs that provide a wide range of social services, in areas such as mental health care, early childhood development, special needs education, youth services, health care, rehabilitation services for the disabled, assistance to Down’s syndrome sufferers, agricultural development, food security and rural financial services.

The special account was set up in 2002 with an initial endowment of US$10 million and has subsequently been replenished twice to boost resources to US$40 million. Previous grants have helped finance the rehabilitation and construction of damaged homes and public buildings, the purchase of emergency medical equipment, assistance to Palestinian universities and a micro-credit scheme, together with a number of social and capacity-building projects.