Wednesday, 27 April 2016

How to revive the stalled reconstruction of Gaza (Fraus Masri, Brookings)

Palestinian workers participate in efforts to clear the rubble of a school, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the east of Gaza City, December 3, 2014. According to housing minister Mufeed al-Hasayna, Gaza needs 8,000 tonnes of cement a day to meet demand. A new system set up with the United Nations to comply with Israeli requirements lets through at most 2,000, he said. At that rate, reconstruction would take more than 30 years, said Hasayna, one of four members of the unity government based in Gaza rather than the West Bank. Hasayna signed an agreement with the U.N. Development Programme and the Swedish government last week to equip and hire local contractors to clear and recycle rubble from northern Gaza. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Two years after Hamas and Israel agreed to a cessation of hostilities, reconstruction in Gaza has been painfully slow. This was the focus of a panel discussion at the Brookings Doha Center on April 19. As Senior Fellow and Director of Research Sultan Barakat explained, rebuilding has stalled in part because the distribution of aid money pledged by donor countries during the October 2014 Cairo Conference has slowed; according to the World Bank, donor countries had dispersed only 40 percent of the pledged money as of the end of March. At this rate, the pledged funds will not be dispersed until 2019, two years after the target date.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/04/27-gaza-reconstruction-masri

No comments:

Post a Comment