European Union Launches First Projects of the Gaza Team Initiative Worth $48 Million

Brussels, Sept 23 (KUNA) -- The European Union launched today two initial projects under the Gaza Recovery Team initiative for early recovery, with a total value of 43 million euros (approximately 48 million dollars), aimed at restoring essential water services and solid waste management in the Gaza Strip. EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargment Negotiations Dombrovskis signed the project agreements on the sidelines of the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The projects allocate 37 million euros (about 41.3 million dollars) in cooperation with UNICEF to enhance access to clean drinking water and reduce environmental and health hazards for around one million people in Gaza, alongside 6 million euros (approximately 6.7 million dollars) in cooperation with UNDP to support waste collection and transport and to launch a pilot recycling programme. The European Commission stated in a press release that this step embodies the concrete commitment of the Gaza Recovery Team initiative to translate coordinated international support into tangible actions that contribute to protecting public health and mitigating the environmental impact of the crisis on water and soil, paving the way for expansion into other sectors such as health, energy, and agriculture, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803. The Gaza Recovery Team initiative was launched in Brussels last July with initial funding of nearly 1 billion euros (approximately 1.12 billion dollars) and includes an expanded international platform comprising the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and several donor countries, to coordinate with the World Bank and the United Nations in implementing early recovery and reconstruction plans in the Strip. (End) A.R.N. / H.M.F.