:: OPEC Fund for International Development :: Operations

- Uniting Against Poverty
- Sowing the Seeds of Hope

The Fund established a Special Grant Account for Palestine in November 2002.

Operations

Palestine Special Account

Palestine Special Account

Background

The Fund established a Special Grant Account for Palestine in November 2002, with an initial endowment of US$10 million, in response to the growing number of families displaced by the destruction of their homes.

Since inception, OFID has been active in channelling assistance to Palestinians at various levels. Through its Grants Program, assistance has been directed towards projects which aim at providing health care, education, rural development, basic infrastructure and water supply and sanitation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Between 1979 and 2002, OFID extended 66 grants in the total amount of US$18.2 million to projects in Palestine through United Nations agencies, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There have also been two concessional loans to the Palestinian Authority totalling US$18 million for the first and second phases of a Community Development Project in the West Bank.

Special Grant Account for Palestine

Following the tragic events precipitating the second Intifada, the Ministerial Council of OFID decided in 2002 to establish a Special Grant Account for Palestine with an initial endowment of US$10 million. Subsequent replenishments have boosted the account to US$70 million. The account is a special initiative to address the needs of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and accelerate the delivery of social and economic assistance.

Under the Special Account, grant operations in Palestine are carefully planned in close coordination and partnership with leading specialized and Arab aid institutions, such as the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development; the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB); and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

OFID’s areas of primary concern are the priority areas of social and humanitarian needs as identified by the World Bank, the UN specialized agencies, the Palestinian Authority and NGOs working directly with the poorest segments of the population. These include:

Palestinian educational institutions, tuition fees for university students and the development of primary school infrastructure;
Rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged houses, properties and basic infrastructure;
Support to Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs) that provide services to the community in areas ranging from education and health to special care for children and the handicapped;
Assistance to the health sector for essential drugs, vaccines and the maintenance of health facilities;
Rehabilitation of damaged technical workshops and agricultural infrastructure (water wells, damaged agricultural land, etc); and
Micro credit financing programs.

Activities identified under each operation are planned to reach directly and indirectly the poorest segments of Palestinian society. Committed resources are distributed in such a way as to ensure delivery of OFID assistance to the hardest-hit communities in the West Bank and Gaza.

The PalFund micro-credit scheme

In June 2004, OFID created The OPEC Fund Micro Enterprises for Palestine (PalFund) scheme, with an initial contribution of US$2.5 million. Administered by UNRWA, the PalFund is a microfinance scheme, which supports the Palestinian Private Sector by extending small loans to productive and qualified micro-entrepreneurs and artisans and thereby contributing to job creation and income growth. In December 2005, and on the basis of successful outcomes, OFID extended a second contribution of US$7.5 million to this Fund.

Emergency Assistance

During 2008, further crises hit Gaza: there was violence, sustained air raids, massive destruction, a tight blockade and, most significantly, the death of over 1,300 Palestinians. More than 5,300 people were injured. In response, OFID Management extended three Emergency Assistance grants totalling US$9 million to Gaza:

US$5 million for the provision of essential relief supplies, water, food, milk powder and relief operations;
US$3 million for food supplies;
US$1 million for medicines and medical supplies.

Thus, over the last 30 years, OFID has provided over US$106 million in assistance to co-finance 234 operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. All operations have been successfully implemented through partnerships with six international and regional development organizations and over 70 Palestinian NGOs in the West Bank and 48 NGOs operating in the Gaza Strip.

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