GAZA WATER CRISIS PROMPTS UN CALL FOR IMMEDIATE OPENING OF CROSSINGS

The top United Nations humanitarian official in the occupied Palestinian territory today joined aid agencies in calling for the immediate opening of Gaza's crossings to allow the entry of spare parts and materials critical to restoring the area's water and sanitation services.

"The deterioration and breakdown of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza is compounding an already severe and protracted denial of human dignity in the Gaza Strip," Maxwell Gaylard said in a joint statement issued today with the NGO Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA).

"At the heart of this crisis is a steep decline in standards of living for the people of Gaza, characterized by erosion of livelihoods, destruction and degradation of basic infrastructure, and a marked downturn in the delivery and quality of vital services in health, water and sanitation," added Mr. Gaylard, the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Humanitarian Coordinator.

Israel's closure of Gaza's crossing points, imposed since June 2007, has meant that equipment and supplies needed for the construction, maintenance and operation of water and sanitation facilities have not been able to enter the area, leading to the deterioration of these services.

Currently, some 10,000 people do not have access to the water network, while another 60 per cent of Gaza's population of 1.5 million do not have continuous access to water.

In addition, some 50 to 80 million litres of untreated and partially treated waste-water have been discharged daily into the Mediterranean Sea since January 2008, due to damage to sewage treatment facilities, lack of treatment capacity because of postponed plant upgrade projects, and a critical shortage of fuel and electricity necessary to operate them.

Mr. Gaylard and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called on the Israeli Government to take immediate steps to ensure the entry into Gaza of the necessary construction and repair materials to respond to the water and sanitation crisis.

"Without addressing both the immediate basic needs of the population and facilitating the longer-term development and management of the degraded water and sanitation sector, public health and the wider environment will remain at significant risk," said the Humanitarian Coordinator.

"Pollution does not recognise borders or barriers, and communities throughout the region are threatened by the deficiencies of Gaza's water and sanitation system," he added.
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PALESTINIAN ECONOMY WINS BOOST FROM ONLINE PROGRAMME FOR CUSTOMS AUTHORITY – UN

International businesses based in the West Bank are set to benefit from a state of the art web-based system for tracking goods coming in and out of the area, launched today by Palestinian customs in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The online system, known as ASYCUDA WORLD, will speed up transactions and lower costs for Palestinian exporters and importers, according to a news release issued by UNCTAD.

Palestinian customs clearance agents and private trading companies will be able to process customs declarations and related documents electronically from their own premises without having to visit customs offices.

UNCTAD said that the new software, the final stage in upgrading Palestinian customs' computerized system, is also expected to improve the customs authority's risk management and post-auditing processes, reduce fraud and smuggling, provide better data to inform public policy and increase customs and tax revenues.

The launch ceremony – sponsored by Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Authority Prime Minster and Minister of Finance – was held in Ramallah, and attended by representatives from the European Commission (EC) and UNCTAD, the main partners for the Palestinian customs modernization programme.
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UN CONCERNED OVER POTENTIAL FURTHER EVICTIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM

In the wake of the evictions of dozens of Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem earlier this week, the United Nations today voiced concern that more families could be forced out of their homes by Israel, causing further humanitarian suffering.

Two families, comprising 53 people registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), were forced out by Israeli security forces last weekend from the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, with Israeli settlers moving into their homes.

"The families, evicted in the early hours of Sunday from the homes where they have lived for more than half a century, continue to suffer distress and shock," UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said in a statement issued today in Jerusalem. "The children are particularly traumatized."

On top of being surrounded by Israeli police and security personnel at dawn on Sunday morning, with their homes broken into, "they have had to endure the indignity and humiliation of their personal effects being loaded onto trucks and dumped in scrub land at the edge of Jerusalem's Route One," a busy thoroughfare, he added.

Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, characterized the evictions as "unacceptable" earlier this week, stressing that the move only serves to amplify already high tensions and block progress towards the peace process.

"These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to the occupied territory," he said, adding that they flout the united calls by the international community, including those by the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

In a joint communiqué issued after a June meeting, the Quartet called on Israel to "to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolition and evictions."

UNRWA today welcomed the international community's statements deploring the weekend's evictions, but said it remains concerned about other refugee families in the area and said it will continue to closely monitor the situation.

Mr. Gunness noted that the agency is helping the families kicked out of their homes on Sunday recover their belongings, adding that "we are raising these cases with the Israeli authorities as a matter of urgency" and calling on them to refrain from further evictions.

He also said that UNRWA calls on Israel to reinstate those evicted, a move demanded by Mr. Serry.

The Special Coordinator has also stressed that the UN rejects Israeli claims that the evictions are a matter for municipal and domestic courts, urging Israel to abide by international law and its obligations under the Roadmap plan for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace.

Last week, he condemned the Israeli security forces' takeover of a house in Sheikh Jarrah, noting that the recent "upsurge in orders for house demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem is contrary to the Roadmap. Any settlement activity in East Jerusalem is contrary to international law and cannot prejudice the outcome of negotiations."
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UN ENVOY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST ISRAEL’S ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ EVICTIONS OF PALESTINIANS

A senior United Nations envoy has deplored Israel's "unacceptable" evictions of Palestinian refugee families from the homes in East Jerusalem, stressing that the move only serves to amplify already high tensions and block progress towards the peace process.

Dozens of people registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were forced out by Israeli security forces over the weekend from the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, with Israeli settlers moving into their homes.

"These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to the occupied territory," Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said in a statement issued yesterday in Jerusalem.

The evictions, he said, flout the united calls by the international community, including those by the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

In a joint communiqué issued after a June meeting, the Quartet called on Israel to "to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolition and evictions."

According to UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness, the evicted families' belongings were loaded onto trucks and dumped at the edge of a busy Jerusalem road.

Today, the UN agency helped the refugees – who lived in their houses for over half a century – recover their possessions, he said.

"Of the 53 people evicted, 20 are children and are reported to be particularly traumatized," Mr. Gunness said.

Mr. Serry said in his statement that the UN rejects Israeli claims that the evictions are a matter for municipal and domestic courts, urging Israel to abide by international law and its obligations under the Roadmap plan for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace.

Last week, he condemned the Israeli security forces' takeover of a house in Sheikh Jarrah, noting that the recent "upsurge in orders for house demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem is contrary to the Roadmap. Any settlement activity in East Jerusalem is contrary to international law and cannot prejudice the outcome of negotiations."
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ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS CONTINUE RESTRICTING PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT – UN REPORT

New York, May 27 2009 6:00PM
Israeli obstacles continue to constrain the freedom of movement for Palestinians living in the West Bank, according to a new <"http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_movement_and_access_2009_05_25_english.pdf">report by the United Nations humanitarian arm.

Despite several measures implemented by Israel which have eased traffic flow on some routes into the four main cities of Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarm and Ramallah, other actions have further controlled Palestinian access while easing the movement of Israeli settlers, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) report noted.

The combination of physical obstacles, including checkpoints, roadblocks and the separation Barrier, as well as administrative and legal restrictions, such as prohibited roads, affect Palestinians' vehicular and pedestrian access throughout the West Bank.

"The Israeli authorities have justified this system as a temporary measure to contain violent confrontations with Palestinians and to protect Israeli citizens, both in Israel and in the West Bank settlements, from Palestinians," the new publication said.

During the reporting period – September 2008-March 2009 – OCHA field teams said they documented 634 physical obstacles.

The expansion of checkpoints, which often entails the seizure of Palestinian land in the vicinity of an existing checkpoint, as well as the replacing of rudimentary obstacles with more permanent ones, are among the measures which are entrenching a system of restrictions which "diminishes the prospects for a genuine improvement in the degree of control that Palestinians have over the physical space of the West Bank," the report said.

"Without such improvement, the possibilities available for the Palestinian population to address its own needs will necessarily remain limited," it added.

Israeli settlements erected in the West Bank since 1967, according to the report, are perhaps the most important factor driving the restrictions. The areas within the boundaries of the nearly 150 settlements, comprising 3 per cent of the West Bank, are inaccessible to Palestinians and further fragment the territory.

The OCHA report concluded that the movement and access restrictions "have resulted in a contraction of the overall space available for Palestinian development and a decrease in the degree of control that Palestinians have over that space.
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HEALTH CONDITIONS WORSENING IN GAZA AS BORDERS REMAIN CLOSED – UN AGENCY

HEALTH CONDITIONS WORSENING IN GAZA AS BORDERS REMAIN CLOSED – UN AGENCY
New York, May 22 2009 6:00PM
The deteriorating health situation in Gaza has been intensified by Israel's blockade of crossings into the area, the United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees warned today.

Even before Israel's military offensive targeting Hamas militants on the tiny strip of land earlier this year, which killed over 1,400 people and injured 5,000 others, the border closures had a grave impact on the health of Gazans and the ability of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (<"http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/index.html">UNRWA) to provide health services.

According to the agency's latest health report, some 4,000 medical items per day on average could cross into Gaza before the conflict, whereas only 40 items are currently allowed to be imported daily.

UNRWA also reported that restrictions on building supplies have resulted in damaged health care centres being left in a state of disrepair and a scarcity of paper has led to difficulties in keeping medical records.

The new report also voiced deep concern over the lack of adequate food to children, and said that on top of widespread unemployment, no petrol or diesel has been delivered to Gaza and only very limited amounts of cooking gas has made it into the Strip since 2 November, causing anaemia in 30 per cent of children below 36 months of age and 50 per cent of pregnant women.

Guido Sabatinelli, UNRWA Director of Health, <"http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/446CA4419978392CC12575BE00318C05?OpenDocument">told reporters in Geneva today that the agency forecasted a 25 per cent shortfall in its biennium budget for 2009-2010. Since needs were expanding, the agency said it would be obliged to suspend some of its services next year, including hospital closures.

Mr. Sabatinelli said that the UNRWA health budget was $80 million to provide for 4 million persons, or $20 per person per year, which is well below the recommendation by the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) of $60 per person as an absolute minimum.
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UN AGENCY TO MARK 60 YEARS OF ASSISTING PALESTINIAN REFUGEES

UN AGENCY TO MARK 60 YEARS OF ASSISTING PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
New York, May 14 2009 5:00PM
The United Nations agency tasked with providing education, health, relief and social services to 4.6 million Palestinian refugees is set to kick off a series of events on Friday to commemorate its 60th anniversary.

In the first of many worldwide events, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will release 60 blue balloons over Ramallah as a symbol of hope rising over obstacles and uniting those who have been separated and scattered, the agency said in a news release.

Each balloon will have the wishes of Palestinian refugee children attached on tags, which are numbered with the purpose of tracking the balloons and marking their destinations on a map on the agency's website.

The agency, established by the General Assembly in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, stressed that the commemoration is an occasion for sober reflection on six decades of exile during which UNRWA has worked alongside the refugees in times of relative calm in the Middle East, as well as strife.

The "UNRWA at 60" launch event will be hosted by Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd at the Ramallah Women's Training Centre and attended by senior Palestinian government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, senior representatives of the Palestine refugee community, and members of local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI visited an UNRWA camp near Bethlehem yesterday, during which he announced a pledge of 50,000 Euros, which will allow for the building of three new classrooms at a boys' school. The Pope stressed that a commitment to education is an expression of "hope in the future."

Ms. AbuZayd said she hoped the Pope's message "will resonate with those entrusted with the privilege of political authority and encourage them to work together to achieve a just and lasting peace."
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URGENT NEED TO GENERATE MOMENTUM IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS – BAN

URGENT NEED TO GENERATE MOMENTUM IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS – BAN
New York, May 11 2009 2:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need to generate momentum in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, warning that the situation on the ground could worsen easily without fresh efforts by both sides as well as the international community.

"After the inconclusive results of last year's negotiations, and the bloodshed in Gaza, the last three months witnessed almost no progress on the two key resolutions – 1850 and 1860," Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3838">told today's Security Council <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9655.doc.htm">meeting, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Council, in the two resolutions adopted earlier this year, called for a durable and fully respected ceasefire, prevention of the illicit supply of weapons to Gaza; reopening of the crossings in accordance with the Agreement on Movement and Access; and progress on Palestinian reconciliation under the legitimate Palestinian Authority.

"The challenge is to begin implementing transformative changes on the ground; and to kick-start a renewed and irreversible drive to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement," stated Mr. Ban.

The Secretary-General cited the need to be "determined as we are patient, as insistent as we are supportive, as principled as we are empathetic to the very real concerns of both parties," adding that the parties need confidence that the process will address their vital interests.

They also need confidence that commitments made will be commitments monitored and commitments kept, he added, noting a "deep crisis of confidence" among ordinary people on the ground.

Mr. Ban noted that in the period ahead, United States President Barack Obama will host the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and key regional parties in Washington. He also expected that the Middle East Quartet – comprising the UN, European Union, Russia and US – will meet soon.

"Like a bicycle that falls over when left at a standstill, the situation on the ground could easily deteriorate unless proper direction is given and real momentum is quickly generated," he stated.

"Violence and terror will not bring the Palestinians statehood and dignity, and settlement expansion and closure will not bring Israel security or peace. And no two-State solution can be reached if the situation between Gaza and southern Israel continues on its present destructive course, or if Palestinians remain permanently divided," said the Secretary-General.

Mr. Ban called on the parties to honour all existing agreements and previous commitments and pursue an irreversible effort towards the two-State solution, including by fully implementing commitments on the ground.

"I also believe the international community's credibility is at stake," he added. "We are a long way from where we hoped to be when we embarked on a fresh push for peace less than two years ago. However, I take heart that there is a deep consensus about the scale of the challenge and the importance of meeting it."

Mr. Ban added he remains "extremely worried" about the situation in and around Gaza, with internal Palestinian divisions and Israeli-Hamas tensions trapping the civilian population in a "vortex of hopelessness."

He noted that nearly four months after the conflict in Gaza – in which 3,800 houses and 2 health care centres were destroyed, and 34,000 homes, 15 hospitals, 41 health care centres and 282 schools sustained varying degrees of damage – it is difficult to get anything beyond food and medicine into the area. "This is completely unacceptable," he stressed.
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UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ‘SHRINKING SPACE’ FOR PALESTINIANS IN BETHLEHEM

UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS 'SHRINKING SPACE' FOR PALESTINIANS IN BETHLEHEM
New York, May 7 2009 4:00PM
Israeli measures have reduced the amount of land available in Bethlehem for Palestinian use, limited the area's access to resources and restricted its potential for development, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) says in a new report.

"Shrinking Space: Urban Contraction and Rural Fragmentation in the Bethlehem Governorate," examines how Israeli measures – such as the Barrier, settlements and closures – have impacted Palestinian livelihoods, development and residential expansion in Bethlehem, which comprises approximately 660 kilometres.

"The space available to the Palestinian population in the Bethlehem governorate has been significantly constricted by Israeli measures such as the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and their outposts," states the <"http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_bethlehem_shrinking_space_may_2009_english.pdf">report.

These measures have reduced Bethlehem's development space, limited its access to resources, severed Bethlehem's historic links to Jerusalem and restricted the urban area's potential for residential and industrial expansion, it adds.

The report notes that the traditional mainstays of the Bethlehem economy such as work in Israel, tourism, agriculture herding and the private sector have been undermined.

Only 13 per cent of land in Bethlehem is available for Palestinian use, and much of it is fragmented, the report shows. In addition, Israel retains security control and jurisdiction over building and planning in 66 per cent of the governorate.

Also, the Barrier route in Bethlehem reaches 10 kilometres into the West Bank. If completed, it will cut off some of the most fertile cultivated land in the governorate as well as 21,000 Palestinian villagers from the urban centre, according to the report.

As of now, the report says, around 175,000 Palestinians live in the Bethlehem governorate. Since 1967, some 86,000 Israelis have also been settled there, and they live in 19 settlements and 16 settlement outposts.

OCHA also outlines steps that can be taken to prevent further deterioration, including halting construction of the Barrier inside the West Bank, opening closed military areas and nature reserves for sustainable Palestinian development, and freezing settlement construction.
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PALESTINIANS TO BENEFIT FROM FIRST MID-EAST UN FOOD VOUCHER OPERATION

Around 30,000 Palestinians are set to benefit from a 12-month food voucher operation launched in the Middle East by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the first of its kind in the region.

"The recent fall in global food prices has not yet translated into lower prices in local markets," noted Christine van Nieuwenhuyse, WFP Country Director in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"Palestinian families are now spending about 60 per cent of their income on food," she stated, adding that the new project would improve people's access to food, while also providing a financial stimulus to the local economy.

Under the programme, developed together with the Palestinian Authority, families will receive eight vouchers per month, with a monthly value of $50, which they can use to buy items such as bread, eggs and milk.

The operation began yesterday in the West Bank, where the price of staples such as wheat flour, sugar, rice, oil, pulses and milk rose by almost 70 per cent in 2008. WFP plans to start a similar scheme in Gaza for about 15,000 people.

A WFP study done in July 2008 found that people in the occupied Palestinian territories are "highly vulnerable" to the impact of global food prices on domestic markets due to their dependence on imports.

In February, the Rome-based agency launched its first food voucher programme in Africa, targeting 120,000 people in the capital of Burkina Faso who are suffering from the impact of high food prices in urban areas.
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UN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES MEMBER STATES TO OVERCOME DIFFERENCES IN FIGHT AGAINST RACISM

UN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES MEMBER STATES TO OVERCOME DIFFERENCES IN FIGHT AGAINST RACISM
New York, Feb 23 2009 8:00PM

The top United Nations official for human rights today stressed the need for Member States put aside their differences and work together to defeat racism ahead of the so-called Durban Review Conference later this year, which will examine the progress made worldwide since the 2001 global anti-racism summit held in the South African city.

Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, sent a report to Member States planning the review conference that will be held in April in Geneva to assess and accelerate progress towards the implementation of measures adopted at the landmark 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

She appealed to governments "not to allow any single issue dominate discussions of such vital importance to human dignity to the exclusion and detriment of others."

Some of the language proposed for a draft outcome document that will be used as the basis for negotiations at the conference has been controversial because of its criticism of Israel's policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel indicated last November that it does not plan to take part in the April review conference.

"I appeal to all to uphold the consensually agreed objectives of the Durban Review Conference, and to bear in mind their importance to the millions of victims around the world," said Ms. Pillay, adding, "I urge Member States to transcend their differences and to join efforts to confront racism and xenophobia."

The High Commissioner also proposed holding a series of workshops to help governments find common ground on the issue of defamation of religions.

Several Islamic nations have suggested revising language in the document to limit wording that they describe as offensive to religion, but some Western states have expressed difficulty in accepting the changes because of the potential negative impact on freedom of expression.

"I believe that from a human rights perspective and in light of the Durban Review Conference, it should be addressed as an issue of incitement to religious hatred within the existing framework of international human rights law," said Ms. Pillay.
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