Assistance for “Isolated and Disenfranchised Communities in the OPT” project – Japanese Govt. press release (Non-UN document)

Assistance for "Isolated and Disenfranchised Communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" Project

January 9, 2006

1. On the 9th of January (Monday), the Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance totalling 5,276,745.90 US dollars (approximately 564.61 million yen), through the Trust Fund for Human Security to a project entitled "Isolated and Disenfranchised Communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" that will be implemented by the United Nations Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency (UNRWA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

2. This project aims at supporting Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are suffering the negative impacts of the strife with Israel, by empowering the disenfranchised people. The following activities will be implemented:

Providing children, adolescents and their families with efficient, regular psychological support through counselling;

Providing remedial education for children who experienced disruptions in schooling by developing teaching materials and hiring teachers;

Creating quality educational opportunities in repaired schools and promoting the idea of the human security in communities;

Strengthening women's capacity through community-based activities such as vocational training workshops;

Constructing and reconstructing necessary social infrastructure such as homes, community centres, sewage, water and electricity connections and road pavement.

3. This project is expected to improve the quality of social life for vulnerable people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as to contribute to the peace in Palestine.

(Note)

The Trust Fund for Human Security was established in the United Nations Secretariat in March 1999 at the initiative of the Government of Japan. Since then, total contributions have reached approximately 29 billion yen (US$ 256 million). The Trust Fund has supported projects from more than 140 UN agencies, each one addressing various threats to human life, livelihood and dignity, from the perspective of human security.