Paris // Six months after donors pledged billions for devastated Gaza, only a quarter of the funds have materialised and not one destroyed home has been rebuilt.
The findings were published in a report by a coalition of aid groups on Monday.
The report, Charting a New Course: Overcoming the Stalemate in Gaza, warns that further conflict is likely unless the world takes a fresh approach to the battered Palestinian territory, by releasing the promised funds, pushing for a permanent ceasefire and pressuring Israel to end its nine-year blockade.
“If we do not change course now to address these core issues the situation in Gaza will only continue to worsen,” said the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA).
The report was published six months after international donors gathered in Cairo to pledge US$3.5 billion (Dh12.86bn) in aid for Gaza which was devastated by a 50-day war with Israel in summer 2014 that left 2,200 Palestinians dead and 73 on the Israeli side.
But so far, only around a quarter of the funds have been released and not a single home has been rebuilt, the report found.
“Six months later, reconstruction and rehabilitation have barely kicked off,” said the report, written by major charities including CARE International, Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
During the war, more than 160,000 homes were hit, displacing around a quarter of Gaza’s population of 1.8 million, some 100,000 of whom are still homeless, it said.
But since the donors’ conference “not a single one of the 19,000 destroyed [or severely damaged] homes has been rebuilt,” the agencies said.
“Donors should make good on the pledges made at the Cairo conference and move forward with reconstruction and recovery projects for Gaza,” it said.
World Bank figures cited in the report show that only $945 million – or 26.8 per cent of the promised funds – have been disbursed with some donors expressing reluctance to release the money until the Palestinian Authority resumes a presence within Gaza.
“The paradox is that the lack of reconstruction is exacerbating the potential for conflict. By refraining from releasing funds due to fear of political instability in Gaza, donors are entrenching divides that heighten instability,” it said.
It also accused the international community of accepting the status quo in Gaza and failing to challenge Israel’s years-long blockade on the tiny territory.
And it denounced the lack of efforts to put in a place a permanent ceasefire arrangement.
“The international community, in particular the (Middle East diplomatic) Quartet of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, should propose a time-bound plan to support an end to the blockade,” the agencies said.
Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam, said the speeches at the conference had “turned into empty words”.
“There has been little rebuilding, no permanent ceasefire agreement and no plan to end the blockade,” she said in a statement.
“The international community is walking with eyes wide open into the next avoidable conflict, by upholding the status quo they themselves said must change.”
The authors also called for Israel to allow free movement between the occupied West Bank and Gaza “in line with obligations as an occupying power”.
*Agence France-Presse
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
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Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
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A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
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