Posted on March 5, 2009 - by Gavin

OPT: OFID announces approval of US$2.5 million grant to assist reconstruction of Gaza…

Relief Web

Vienna, Austria – OFID (the OPEC Fund for International Development) has announced the approval of an emergency grant of US$2.5 million to help bolster reconstruction operations in Gaza, Palestine. The grant was announced at the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza, which held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, March 2. According to a reconstruction plan prepared by the Palestinian Government, the early recovery and reconstruction needs would cost some US$2.8 billion.

A speech was delivered on behalf of OFID Director-General, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, by the institution’s Assistant Director-General of Financial Operations, Mr. Saeid Niazi. In the statement, Mr. Niazi said the US$2.5 million would be divided equally among 50 prominent NGOs carrying out development operations in Gaza. Proceeds from the grant would go far in “helping these institutions continue to carry out their life-saving operations,” he added.

Mr. Niazi also highlighted one of “OFID’s most successful projects,” the PalFund, a revolving micro-finance fund that “targets self-empowerment, growth and job creation” in the Palestinian Territory. PalFund, he added, was being administered on behalf of OFID by UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Mr. Niazi added that OFID would extend an additional US$3 million in support of microfinance in Gaza.

The donor’s conference was attended by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and top diplomats from 45 nations. The international donors pledged US$4.5 billion to help rebuild the devastated Gaza Strip. The amount was much more than the US$2.8 billion that the Palestinian Authority had aimed to raise at the Conference.

OFID has been providing assistance to Palestine since 1979. Following the tragic events precipitating the second Intifada, in 2002 OFID’s Ministerial Council established a Special Grant Account for Palestine with an initial endowment of US$10 million. Subsequent replenishments have boosted the account to US$70 million.

As of December 31, 2008, US$65.48 million in grants have been approved from the account, targeting priority areas such as the health, education, agriculture and water supply and sanitation sectors, as well as rehabilitation of damaged homes and infrastructure.

In addition, in 2008 OFID extended US$9 million in emergency assistance to Gaza for essential food and health supplies and to help finance relief operations. OFID’s cumulative assistance to Palestine is more than US$108.5 million.

Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EDIS-7PTRA9?OpenDocument