Medium Term Response Plan (MTRP) 2009-2010 – OPT – Draft

UNITED NATIONS

Medium Term Response Plan (MTRP)

2009 – 2010

Occupied Palestinian Territory

DRAFT

1. Introduction

The Medium Term Response Plan (MTRP) articulates the UN’s contribution to Palestinian early recovery and development priorities over the next two years in both the West Bank and Gaza, as defined, inter alia, in the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP and the Palestinian National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza. This partnership with national actors focuses both on institutional development and the individual needs of Palestinians.

In developing the MTRP, agencies considered their mandates, and assessed their strengths in order to determine where their contributions would be most valuable. The UN’s efforts will be guided by principles of equity and inclusiveness, placing greater emphasis on supporting policies and delivery mechanisms that meet the needs of under served and marginalized groups and individuals, notably in Gaza and in the poorer areas of the West Bank, including Area C and East Jerusalem.

While the recent conflict in Gaza has inevitably led to increased attention to humanitarian needs on the ground, there is also need to focus on the reality in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where the protracted crisis has stretched coping mechanisms to the limit. For many, a combination of continued closures, limited economic opportunities and adverse climate patterns has resulted in the selling disposable assets, reducing consumption and relying on credit to buy food, This and other similar coping strategies severely undermine the potential for sustainable socio-economic development.

In this context, the MTRP commits the UN system to a prioritized set of concrete results for which the UN assumes collective responsibility. As such, while the MTRP is designed to facilitate joint UN action, all MTRP results, even when implemented through single agency interventions, represent a shared UN system wide commitment to deliver on national priorities and needs.

This strategy is based on a number of pre-requisites, risks and assumptions. One of the most significant challenges to implementation of the MTRP is the reality of the on-going occupation and the associated restrictions on access and movement across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), limitations on Palestinian administrative and economic controls and recurring military conflicts. While this reality, along with the intra-Palestinian divide, has informed the focus and the programming choices made in each sector of intervention, it also represents a significant constraint on the UN’s ability to effectively respond to Palestinian needs.

The MTRP therefore articulates what the UN is and plans to do under existing conditions and what it could do in an improved operating environment. Opening of the crossings with Gaza, a significant reduction in closures in the West Bank, and greater Palestinian control over political and socio-economic development, coupled with security represent the basic pre-requisites for the UN to fully meet its recovery and development commitments. Moreover, reunification of Gaza with the West Bank within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority would facilitate early recovery and development across the oPt. The mitigating measures presented in section 6 of the document are necessary, but imperfect and unsatisfactory palliatives.

Furthermore, the MTRP is not meant to present all of the UN’s work in oPt. A number of agencies work closely with national counterparts on specific needs and/or mandate-related initiatives, which may not necessarily be captured in national development frameworks and are not reflected in this strategy. In addition, since significant humanitarian needs persist, particularly in Gaza, the MTRP does not assume a phasing out of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) nor does it seek to replace it. To the contrary, it seeks to ensure complementarities with the humanitarian focus of the CAP.