Behind the numbers: Cairo donor conference
The financial commitments announced by donors at the Cairo conference and allocated to the Gaza Strip will not be diverted to the PA and the West Bank, as some media outlets have claimed.
Following the announcement of the pledges at the Conference on Palestine: Reconstructing Gaza in Cairo, speculation about the Palestinian government of national consensus, ranging from corruption to limiting support to Gaza, has appeared in articles and on social media. Some articles went so far as to claim that the funds raised at the conference in Cairo will be diverted to the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s budget. However, this speculation could not be further from the truth.
While it is true that only about half of the amount announced at the donors conference in Cairo is specifically for Gaza, the other half will not be diverted to the West Bank.
To understand the story behind the numbers, one must first grasp the complexities of aid management in Palestine. There are over 70 countries and agencies that provide support to Palestine on an annual basis. While some countries project their support in financial years, others do so in their own fiscal years. While some donors project up to four-year commitments, others project only one. However, in the interest of simplifying matters, donation commitments to Palestine can be divided into three categories:
- Budgetary support: These funds support recurrent budgetary expenditures such as salaries, health care and electrical bills. They include budgetary support to Gaza, which currently amounts to almost 50% of the budget.
- Developmental support: These funds go to investment and technical assistance projects in various sectors, in both the West Bank and Gaza.
- Humanitarian support: These funds go through various UN and non-governmental agencies, most prominently the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides services to Palestinian refugees worldwide.
The time between the commitment of funds and their disbursement may range anywhere from a few months to years. Distinguishing between commitments and disbursements and understanding how disbursements happen are critical to understanding the flow of funds in Palestine. The disbursements of the different commitments can come through a number of channels, including but not limited to the following:
