German Foreign Minister visits UNDP fishermen project in Gaza – UNDP press release

01 Jun 2015

Gaza Strip, 01 June 2015 – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier accompanied by Barbara Wolf, Head of the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, Thomas Eisenbach, Director of KfW office in Ramallah, and UNDP Deputy Special Representative Narjess Saidane visited one UNDP project that supports the Gaza fisheries industry on 01 June 2015. The project is funded by the Government of Germany through its Development Bank (KfW) for the amount of Euro 270,000 and includes the construction of storage units for fishermen in the Gaza Strip.

While touring Gaza’s port, Foreign Minister Steinmeier, and the accompanying delegation, were briefed on the challenges the fishery industry is facing, especially after the 2014 hostilities, and met some of the fishermen benefiting from the project, including the only fisherwomen in Gaza.

The Euro 270,000 investment to the fishery sector is strengthening livelihoods through the construction of 45 storage units and small market place for fishermen in Gaza port and Rafah. The current phase will enable 168 fishermen in Gaza’s port to secure their fishing equipment in the brick huts, while at the same time provide them with a place to work and refrigerate their daily catch before being sold in the market.

“My room was made from old steel sheets and the conditions were inadequate, but now after the project, I enjoy my new safe and secure space to keep my equipment and fishing nets,” said Gaza fisherwoman Madleen Kullab.

The Government of Germany has funded, through KfW and executed by UNDP, over 693 projects in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip through its Euro 92 million Employment Generation Programme (EGP), generating over one million workdays and thousands of permanent jobs.

UNDP Deputy Special Representative, Narjess Saidane, thanked the Government of Germany for their longstanding partnership and highlighted that Euro 26 million worth of projects were implemented in Gaza through the EGP programme. “The programme has significantly improved people’s livelihoods and supported their resilience,” said UNDP Deputy Special Representative, Narjess Saidane. “The needs in Gaza are immense. UNDP was able to create over 10,000 job opportunities through its interventions after the 2014 hostilities and we expect another 20,000 by the end of 2015” she added.

It is worth noting that Gaza has approximately 3,500 fishermen who support 35,000 people, from among the most vulnerable in the Gaza society. Since the imposition of the blockade on Gaza in 2007, fishermen have entered the food insecure category and their reliance on food aid has increased. The current fishing limit is 3 nautical miles, which is less than one third of the 20 nautical miles fishing area allocated under the Oslo Accords.

Contact Information

Dania Darwish, Communications Specialist, Tel. +972-2-6268229 – e-mail: dania.darwish@undp.org. For more information on UNDP/PAPP see http://www.ps.undp.org.

http://www.ps.undp.org/content/papp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2015/06/01/german-foreign-minister-visits-undp-fishermen-project-in-gaza/