How Much International Aid Do the Palestinian Territories Receive?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
ARCHIVED WEBSITE
This site was archived on Aug. 3, 2021. The two-state solution is no longer the most popular solution among the jurisdictions involved. A reconsideration of the topic is possible in the future.
Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA), a program run by the UK-based non-profit social enterprise, Development Initiatives, in the “West Bank and Gaza Strip” section of the GHA website (accessed May 13, 2015), provided the following information:
May 13, 2015
The World Bank, in its dataset titled “Net Official Development Assistance and Official Aid Received (current US$),” available to download from their website (accessed May 8, 2015), provided the following information:
“Net official development assistance (ODA) consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 percent)… Official aid is provided under terms and conditions similar to those for ODA… The collection of data on official aid and other resource flows… ended with 2004 data.
Country Name: West Bank and Gaza
Country Code: PSE
Indicator Name: Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$)
1993: 178,740,000
1994: 471,980,000
1995: 514,110,000
1996: 552,410,000
1997: 613,030,000
1998: 612,570,000
1999: 580,550,0002000: 684,500,000
2001: 997,590,000
2002: 971,610,000
2003: 1,041,840,000
2004: 1,160,840,000
2005: 1,015,710,000
2006: 1,360,250,0002007: 1,717,110,000
2008: 2,470,080,000
2009: 2,826,680,000
2010: 2,518,700,000
2011: 2,441,970,000
2012: 2,011,430,000
2013: 2,610,410,000.”May 8, 2015
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in the “Funding Trends” section of its website (accessed May 8, 2015), provided the following information:
“Pledges to UNRWA (Cash and In-kind) for 2014 [from Government and non-Governmental sources]… in USD as of 31 December 2014…
Grand Total: 1,323,855,183.
TOP 20 GOVERNMENT DONORS IN 2014*
Donor Contribution (US$) United States of America 408,751,396 European Commission 139,402,221 Saudi Arabia 103,519,499 United Kingdom 95,328,127 Sweden 79,975,260 Germany 54,838,742 Norway 35,911,782 Japan (including JICA [Japan International Cooperation Agency]) 28,278,535 Switzerland 27,158,461 Australia 23,707,542 Netherlands 22,474,045 Denmark 22,339,767 Kuwait 17,000,000 France 16,800,000 Italy 10,775,259 Belgium (including Flanders) 10,772,636 Finland 8,865,753 Ireland 8,464,730 Palestine 8,453,349 Turkey 8,129,618
TOP 20 NON-GOVERNMENT DONORS IN 2014*
Donor Contribution (US$) UN Agencies 43,083,888 UAE Red Crescent 42,953,021 Islamic Development Bank 9,790,000 Islamic Relief USA 6,600,000 OPEC Fund for International Development 3,100,000 Islamic Relief Canada 3,099,603 American Friends of UNRWA 3,088,137 Dubai Cares 3,000,000 Tkiyet Um Ali 1,617,487 Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation 1,600,000 International Committee of the Red Cross 1,228,700 Dubai International Humanitarian City 1,058,958 International Islamic Relief Organizations, Saudi Arabia 1,000,000 Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian Foundation and Charity Est. 803,357 Islamic Relief Worldwide 753,665 Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization 652,575 UNRWA Spanish Committee 607,113 Saudi Committee 540,000 Mercy USA for Aid and Development 510,000 Muslim Relief Coalition 500,000 *Contribution data is accurate as of 31 December 2014.”
May 8, 2015
Jim Zanotti, MA, JD, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in a July 3, 2014 CRS report titled “U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians,” available at the U.S. Department of State website, wrote:
“Since the establishment of limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the mid-1990s, the U.S. government has committed approximately $5 billion in bilateral assistance to the Palestinians, who are among the world’s largest per capita recipients of international foreign aid. Successive Administrations have requested aid for the Palestinians in apparent support of at least three major U.S. policy priorities of interest to Congress:
– Preventing terrorism against Israel from Hamas and other militant organizations.
– Fostering stability, prosperity, and self-governance in the West Bank that inclines Palestinians toward peaceful coexistence with Israel and a ‘two-state solution,’
– Meeting humanitarian needs…
Table 1. U.S. Bilateral Assistance to the Palestinians, FY2008-FY2015
(regular and supplemental appropriations; current year $ in millions)
Account FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 ESF 389.5 776.0 400.4 395.7 395.7 356.7 272.0 370.0 ESF-OCO – – – – – 10.0 98.0 – INCLE 25.0 184.0 100.0 150.0 100.0 70.0 70.0 70.0 Total 414.5 960.0 500.4 545.7 495.7 437.2 440.0 441.0 Sources: U.S. State Department, USAID.
Notes: All amounts are approximate. Amounts stated for FY2015 have been requested but not appropriated. For FY2015, the Obama Administration has requested an additional $1 million from the Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) account. [ESF = Economic Support Fund, ESF-OCO = ESF-Overseas Contingency Operations, INCLE = International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement.]Additional U.S. humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere continues through contributions to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). U.S. contributions to UNRWA, which have totaled more than $4.9 billion since UNRWA’s inception in 1950… have averaged over $200 million annually since 2007.”
July 3, 2014
The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) department’s Dec. 2014 Fact Sheet titled “Palestine,” available from ec.europa.eu, stated:
“EC funding for Palestine in 2014 stands at €33.6 million [about $40.7 million US in Dec. 2014], benefiting more than two million Palestinians. Almost a quarter of the funding has been allocated to legal assistance to families living in Area C and East Jerusalem [in the West Bank], emergency response to demolitions and evictions, and coordination with other humanitarian partners.
Out of the €33.6 million, €25.6 million [about $31 million US in Dec. 2014], has been made available to support emergency operations of key humanitarian partners in Gaza… ECHO’s overall assistance in Gaza in 2014 will reach around 800,000 people.
Since year 2000, ECHO has provided a total of €700 million [about $847.7 million US in Dec. 2014] in humanitarian aid to help meeting the basic needs of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
Dec. 2014
The Portland Trust and the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, in the June 2013 edition of the Palestinian Economic Bulletin, available at their website, wrote:
“The Palestinian Authority (PA) 2013 budget estimates total external aid at around $1.4bn… Around $1.05bn of aid constitutes direct budgetary support, while $350m is to be allocated to development expenditure. The budgeted foreign aid for 2013 is almost 130% of the assistance received by the PA as budgetary support during 2012… Most of the budgetary aid during the first four months of 2013 came from the US ($200m), Arab donors ($154m, the majority from Saudi Arabia), the EU ($108m, allocated through the PEGASE mechanism) and the World Bank ($63m).”
June 2013
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the governments of Egypt and Norway, at the conclusion of the Oct. 12, 2014 Cairo International Conference on Palestine: Reconstructing Gaza, attended by 63 states and 18 international organizations, in a document titled “Conclusions by the Chair,” available from the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, wrote:
“The participants pledged approximately USD 5.4 billion, half of which will be dedicated for Gaza reconstruction, and committed themselves to start disbursing their assistance as soon as possible in order to bring about rapid improvements to the daily lives of the Palestinians. The Chair urges the international community to honor its pledges and to provide generous support over the next years.
The Conference also welcomed pledges of important in-kind assistance. The EU announced its readiness to provide operational support on the ground, including a presence at points of entry and exit, and training and assistance in capacity-building, as well as its readiness to explore options for supporting a land link between the West Bank and Gaza, and a maritime link with the outside world.”
Oct. 12, 2014