Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to be here today at this important conference in support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza.
On behalf of the Management of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Arab Republic of Egypt and His Excellency Mr. Aboul Gheit for hosting this major conference. I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre the co-chair of this conference.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Since 1979 the Ministerial Council and the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has been active in Palestine in providing assistance to boost the Palestinian people's chances of a more protected future, economically and socially.
In 2002, OFID launched the Special Grant Account for Palestine as a response to the increasing needs of the Palestinians resulting from the deep deterioration of their economy during the second Intifada in 2000. This account is replenished every two years by the Ministerial Council and is a source of OFID’s continues support to Palestine.
Our cumulative assistance to Palestine comes to more than US$108.5 million funding projects that provide economic, social & humanitarian development and encourages sustainable growth in Palestine.
I would also like to take this opportunity to briefly highlight one of our most successful projects -the PalFund- which is a revolving, micro-finance Fund that targets self empowerment, growth and job creation. The PalFund is being administered on our behalf by the UNRWA as part of its own micro-enterprise program for Palestinians. Results so far have been extremely positive.
OFID’s ongoing assistance to Palestine has been channelled through various grass root Palestinian NGOs, the Palestinian Authority and international organizations and institutions such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), AlAqsa Fund, The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;
OFID is a unique institution in terms of its vast mandate in 120 countries around the Globe with limited grant resources. Despite this limitation, our Ministerial Council has always allocated a significant portion of the available grant resources to operations in Palestine.
On the occasion of this conference and on behalf of OFID Management I would like to announce that an Emergency Grant has just been approved in the amount of US$2.50 million in support of the rehabilitation of the existing social society organizations continuity and survival of their operations. In addition, OFID will extend an additional amount of US$3.00 million in support of microfinance in Gaza. It will also seek the approval of its Ministerial Council at its next annual meeting on June, 16 2009 in Caracas Venezuela to allocate an additional amount to the reconstruction of Gaza.
OFID welcomes the joint efforts of the Governments of Egypt and Norway and all involved partners in convening this conference. We wish the organizers every success in meeting the stated objectives of this conference and we look forward to a positive and sustainable outcome of this noble initiative.
Thank you