The EU provides €12.6 million for the payment of social allowances to Palestinian Families

The European Union, Finland and Spain made a contribution of €12.6 million to the Palestinian Authority payment of social allowances to poor families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The payments provided by the EU, Finland and Spain (€10 million from EU, €1.6 million from Finland and €1 million from Spain) will cover the social allowances of around 62,000 families of which 80% live in the Gaza Strip.

The EU supports the Palestinian Authority Cash Transfer Programme responsible for the provision of basic social protection to the most vulnerable families in Palestine. The EU supports the Ministry of Social Development in serving some 108,000 vulnerable families through an inclusive and equitable social protection system.

Background:

Most of the European Union's assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is channelled through PEGASE^[1] Direct Financial Support since 2008 to support the PA Reform and various National Development Plan, currently the National Policy Agenda (NPA) 2017-2022. PEGASE supports the PA recurrent expenditures, mainly the salaries and pensions of civil servants, the social allowances paid through the cash transfer programme and part of the costs of referrals to the East Jerusalem Hospitals. Since February 2008, over €2.5 billion have been disbursed through PEGASE. The European Joint Strategy 2017-2020 provides also a joint response to the NPA priorities including major reforms and development programmes implemented by key ministries in preparation for statehood. In addition, the EU provides assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA as well as through a wide range of other cooperation projects.

Contacts:

The Office of the European Union Representative 

Shadi Othman (02 5415 867, 0599 673 958); Inas Abu Shirbi (02 541 5 859, 0599 673 957)

[1] Mécanisme Palestino-Européen de Gestion de l'Aide Socio-Economique (PEGASE)