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<title>CANADA CONTRIBUTES ADDITIONAL $5 MILLION TOWARDPOVERTY REDUCTION IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA</title>
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<p><font face="Arial"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1">May 9, 2001 <em>(10:15 a.m. EDT)</em> No. 56</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong></strong></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"> <strong>CANADA CONTRIBUTES ADDITIONAL $5 MILLION TOWARD</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA</strong></font><font face="Arial"></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Maria Minna, Minister for International Co-operation, today announced that Canada will contribute $5 million to help create jobs
and reduce poverty in the West Bank and Gaza. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The announcement was made following Minister Manley's meeting with Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, in Gaza City, on May 9. Mr. Manley is currently on a
tour of the Middle East that includes stops in Egypt, Gaza City, Jordan and Israel. In
Jordan, the Minister will participate in a Human Security Network Ministerial Meeting
taking place in Petra on May 11 and 12.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">"Since the beginning of the crisis, Canada has urged both parties to end the violence
and restart negotiations," Minister Manley said. "At the same time, we have tried to
address the urgent humanitarian needs in the West Bank and Gaza."</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">"The crisis in the West Bank and Gaza has resulted in almost half of the Palestinian
workforce being unable to access work opportunities -- this has added to an
increasingly dire humanitarian situation," Minister Minna said. "Canada is committed to
improving the social and economic well-being of the Palestinian people."</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The funds announced today will be provided by the Canadian International
Development Agency and channelled through the World Bank's Palestinian Economic
Assistance and Co-operation Expansion Facility to support job creation initiatives such
as the construction and restoration of community centres, health clinics, schools and
water systems in the areas administered by the Palestinian Authority. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Canada has contributed over $19 million for similar activities in the Palestinian territories
during the past few years. Since 1993, Canada has contributed $165 million in support
of development in the West Bank and Gaza and to address the humanitarian needs of
Palestinian refugees in the region. In response to the current situation, Canada has
contributed $1.5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Relief
and Works Agency and other international organizations, $800 000 toward the Well-Being of Palestinian Children project, and $150 000 from the Canada Fund for Local
Initiatives toward emergency food distribution. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Funding for today's contribution was provided for in the February 2000 federal budget
and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial">- 30 -</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">A backgrounder is attached.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For further information, media representatives may contact:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Sanjeev Chowdhury </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Press Secretary</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1851</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Mike Murphy</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Office of the Minister of International Co-operation</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(819) 953-6238 </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1874</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(819) 953-6534</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(819) 953-6534</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">E-mail: <a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071206201038/mailto:media@acdi-cida.gc.ca">media@acdi-cida.gc.ca</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Internet: <a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071206201038/http://www.acde-cida.gc.ca/">http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade's Internet site: <a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071206201038/http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/">http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca</a></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>Backgrounder</strong></font><font face="Arial"></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>CANADIAN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN THE WEST BANK AND
GAZA SINCE OCTOBER 2000</strong></font><font face="Arial"></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">The Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) official development
assistance program for the Middle East is Canada's primary vehicle for addressing
humanitarian concerns in the region and assists Canadian efforts to promote peace.
The Middle East Program's annual bilateral programming budget is approximately
$10 million. This funding supports projects in the West Bank and Gaza that address
basic human needs (focusing on water and sanitation, vocational training and technical
education), promote peacebuilding, and provide assistance to the 3.4 million Palestinian
refugees who comprise 80 percent of the region's poorest citizens.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Since the crisis began in late September 2000, there has been a need for increased
assistance. CIDA has contributed to the following emergency projects and initiatives
aimed at alleviating the suffering of those caught in the conflict:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $5 million for the World Bank Palestinian Economic Assistance and Co-operation
Expansion (PEACE) Facility. This project addresses the high rate of unemployment
caused by the current crisis, while promoting social development. Activities include the
construction and rehabilitation of health clinics, schools, water and wastewater systems
at the village level, and community centres, which also serve as meeting places for
women, children, non-governmental organizations and the disabled.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $800 000 to various Palestinian non-governmental organizations to improve the
physical, emotional and psychological well-being of children through physical
rehabilitation, recreational and counselling programs. Children represent 50 percent of
the population in the Occupied Territories and have been especially hard hit by the
crisis, suffering from extreme anxiety, nervous tension, physical ailments and
behavioural problems.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $150 000 to Palestinian non-governmental organizations through the Canada Fund
for Local Initiatives, which is part of CIDA's regular programming budget. However, in
response to the crisis, the Fund has been redirected to emergency projects such as
school renovations, medical assistance, job creation for farmers, and providing food
rations.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $1.25 million to the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency for Palestinian
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to address the increased need for food, shelter,
cash assistance, employment generation and medical assistance, including physical
rehabilitation and counselling for those injured or disabled as a result of the current
crisis. CIDA contributes considerable annual core funding ($9 million in 2000/01) to
UNRWA, but since October 2000, an additional $1.25 million has been provided.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $250 000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to address the
medical, material and protection needs of the victims of the crisis. The ICRC has also
recently launched the House Destruction Relief Programme to provide those families
whose homes have been destroyed with tents, blankets and other essential household
goods.</font></p>
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