Cyprus to give $2 mln aid to Palestinians

…Paris conference raises $7bln pledges

Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said that with a view to help Palestinians to form their state, the Cyprus government has already included the Palestinian Authority in its Strategy for Development Cooperation. 

As regards Cyprus financial contribution, she said that Cyprus will give $2 million covering the period 2008-2010, adding that a part of this amount will be given for infrastructure projects while half of it will be used to finance various vocational programmes and programmes aiming to modernize the Palestinian Civil Service.
Marcoullis also stated that apart from this contribution, Cyprus is ready, due to its geographical position, to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure to the international community for organizing training programmes for the Palestinian Civil Service.
She thanked the French government for hosting the Conference and underlined that during the post-Annapolis period everyone must contribute to the whole procedure, giving the opportunity to the Palestine Authority to proceed with the formation of a state.
Foreign aid of at least $7bln was pledged to the Palestinians at a major donors’ conference in Paris, France‘s foreign minister has said. The figure cited by Bernard Kouchner exceeded the $5.6bln over three years which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked for.

The pledge by 68 states and organisations came at the biggest such meeting in a decade. The money is earmarked for creating a viable Palestinian state. But the package was rejected by Abbas’s rivals, Hamas.

The Islamist group, which wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas in June, was not invited to the conference, which it called a “declaration of war” on it. 

The biggest pledges came from the European Union and the US, which promised $650mln and $555mln respectively. It is the biggest gathering of its kind since 1996.

The World Bank and several aid organisations have said that until Israel lifts its system of restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and goods, giving more money will not rebuild the Palestinians’ economy.