EU and Spain provide €28.5 million for the payment of social allowances to poor Palestinian families

The European Union and Spain provided €28.5 million for the payment of social allowances through the National Cash Transfer Programme benefitting 111,000 vulnerable Palestinian family.

The EU supports the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), which is responsible for the provision of basic social protection to the most vulnerable families in the West Bank and Gaza through its Cash Transfer Programme (CTP). For this payment, the European Union has more than doubled its usual financial contribution providing €28.5 million, of which Spain allocated its annual contribution of EUR 1 million.

After an interruption of CTP payments since May 2021 due to the fiscal crisis, this payment comes as a relief for the 111,000 families who suffered severe social and economic consequences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent hostilities in Gaza.

EU renews its support for the Palestinian people with a €224.8 million assistance package

“Social protection is a basic human right that should be guaranteed by the government to all its people. In the Palestinian context, the most vulnerable families are facing enormous challenges. The European Development Partners have supported the Palestinian Authority for years to create a robust social protection system. The Cash Transfer Programme is one of its crucial components. While we are aware of the very trying fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority, we hold that the rights of the most vulnerable families should be protected as a priority. These families deserve a predictable and reliable social allowance mechanism which we will continue to support”, said EU Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff.

“For many years, Spain has been providing reliable and predictable support to the Palestinian Government for the delivery of essential public services to the Palestinian population, ensuring ownership and contributing to the reduction of multi-dimensional poverty”, said the recently appointed Head of the Spanish Cooperation, Ventura Rodríguez García.

Background

Since 2008, most of the European Union’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is channelled through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support, supporting the PA reform process and various national development plans, currently the National Policy Agenda (NPA) 2017-2022. PEGASE supports the PA’s 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 €3 billion were disbursed through PEGASE by the European Commission and various development partners, namely EU Member States. In addition, the EU provides assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, as well as through a wide range of other cooperation projects. The European Joint Strategy 2021-20204 builds the basis/framework for this engagement and provides a joint EU response to the NPA priorities, including major reforms and development programmes implemented by key ministries in preparation for statehood.

Source: European External Action Service