Context
The Palestinian territories have been troubled by crises and conflicts for years. Political change is taking place with considerable momentum and there is significant potential for conflict. The economy has also suffered as a result of these political conflicts. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is faced with the challenge of showing the population that its government is delivering clear, tangible results as quickly as possible. The German Federal Foreign Office supports the PA through a number of measures, including the ‘Future for Palestine’ programme, which dates back to the Steinmeier Fayyad initiative launched in 2008.
Objective
The living conditions of people in particularly disadvantaged areas of the West Bank are improved. The population embraces the potential to resolve conflicts without violence.
Approach
The initiative provides support for projects that can be realised quickly in particularly disadvantaged areas of the West Bank. The selected projects are designed to directly help improve the living conditions of people in the region. In order to ensure that the focus is firmly on the needs of the local population, the projects are selected in close cooperation with the Palestinian Ministries of Finance, Education and Energy, and the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ramallah.
Local building contractors are paid by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance to implement the selected infrastructure projects. The funds themselves are provided by GIZ via a financing agreement. The public selection and tendering process and the ministries’ own processing of payments to building contractors make it easier for partners to identify with the measures. Support is also being given to develop technical expertise in project and financial management and in building maintenance.
With the help of civil engineering students, a local surveyor monitors building progress on a monthly basis. This process ties in with efforts to provide training on the job. GIZ’s construction division is closely involved to ensure that all the buildings meet international safety and quality standards. In the third phase of the programme target-specific capacity building approaches were developed to improve the sustainable use and maintenance of the buildings. Teachers and students jointly created participatory youth initiatives that ran parallel to the building of schools. Selected schools, hospitals and community centres are being equipped with solar energy panels, and electricity providers and engineers are being trained in how to install and maintain the systems.
Results achieved so far
The projects are only being implemented in villages and communities in particularly disadvantaged areas, which are often unable to make use of other support measures because of their size. This means that there is special public awareness of these initiatives.
In total, 30 infrastructure projects in education, culture and health were handed over to the community in the first three phases of ‘Future for Palestine’. For the first time projects were implemented in the particularly poor areas of the Jordan Valley that are designated Area C under the Oslo Accord. In this region, building activity is almost impossible and people do not have guaranteed access to electricity and water supplies. The construction of a new hospital and measures to renovate schools and nurseries therefore have a particularly pronounced positive impact on residents’ quality of life. In the current fourth phase more intensive efforts are being made to develop skills and resources in solar energy and the maintenance of public buildings, and to increase youth involvement in the public sector.
• Around 4,700 school pupils now have a better learning environment as a result of the school building programme.
• Around 2,000 girls have been able finish school without their parents having to fund the cost of them travelling to school.
• 65,000 men, women and children have access to improved hospital facilities.
• 52,000 residents and their families have access to a broader range of local cultural activities.
• Electricity at three schools and a hospital is provided by solar energy systems that can also feed into the local electricity network – this is the first pilot project of its kind in the West Bank.