EMERGENCY WATER & SANITATION
Development Problem
Shortage of water supply has historically been one of the key issues leading to Palestinians’ livelihood insecurity and contributing to the existing Middle East conflict. Limited water supplies continue to exacerbate the problems facing an estimated 50% of Palestinians who have less than half the WHO’s recommended 60 liters of water/capita/day. Current violence also damages existing water and sanitation systems.
In the West Bank and Gaza, raw sewage is typically discharged directly into dry riverbeds, causing local health problems and frequently contaminating aquifers. At present, leaks in sewage collection pipes occur frequently due to badly deteriorated sewage systems.
USAID Intervention
The U.S. Agency for International Development has been the lead donor in West Bank Gaza’s Water and Sanitation sector since the Oslo (1993-5) conferences.
USAID will continue repairing and rehabilitating small-scale water and sanitation facilities throughout the West Bank and Gaza. More people will benefit from the rehabilitation of deteriorated water networks, replacement of old water pumps, supply of tankered water to communities that do not have any piped water, replacement of old and leaking sewage lines, provision of water collection cisterns to poor families in rural communities, connection of underserved households to water, and installation of adequate rainwater drainage pipes to ensure the proper discharge of water into areas that allow water to infiltrate to recharge the existing aquifers and relieve downtown areas from flooding. USAID will address the Palestinian Authority’s number one potable water problem in the northern West Bank by supplying the Palestinian Water Authority with over 60 kilometers of water pipe in order to provide ten villages in the southern-Nablus area with new potable water service.
USAID will improve water and sanitation access for up to an additional 10,000 households in Gaza and the West Bank.
Latest Results
USAID continues to deliver small-scale water and sanitation improvements to towns and municipalities in the West Bank and Gaza. To date, 114 completed activities, valued at $8,313,534 million, have benefited more than 1,876,631 people and created temporary jobs for approximately 1,000 Palestinians. Over 19,500 households have received better access to a cleaner and regular water supply in their houses, and about 30,000 households received improved sanitation services and new connections to proper sewage networks.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Development Problem
USAID’s water and infrastructure program provides humanitarian assistance to increase essential access to potable water for needy Palestinian families, and to improve transportation arteries within the West Bank and Gaza. Since 2002, USAID/West Bank Gaza water security investments have been designed to expand access to potable water to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families, making important contributions towards advancing Middle East peace, while improving such services’ operation and financing to reduce dependency on international donor funding.
USAID Intervention
USAID restored and upgraded local water and sanitation infrastructure, and constructed major water and sanitation facilities. USAID has put into service four major production wells yielding approximately eight million cubic meters of water per year. This doubled the water supply for approximately 600,000 beneficiaries in the Hebron-Bethlehem area and supplied potable water to new communities of approximately 100,000 people. Under Phase II of the program, USAID has constructed approximately 16,500 meters of water transmission lines in the Hebron/Bethlehem region, including two large booster pump stations. A village water system is in place in the Jenin area of the Northern West Bank, serving another 70,000 Palestinians.
USAID will provide a complete and fully operational bulk water supply system for the southern part of the West Bank. Upon completion, the new facilities will become the backbone of a large water supply scheme that will provide an additional 30,000 cubic meters per day of new drinking water to approximately 600,000 Palestinians living in the Hebron area.
USAID will also work to improve access to medium and large scale infrastructure and facilities with an initial focus on the most heavily populated areas in the West Bank. Activities will include the identification, design and construction of water, wastewater, roads, and building facilities.
Latest Results
The FY 2007 program will result in new or improved infrastructure facilities to benefit over 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.
JOB CREATION
Development Problem
The period since late 2000 has been characterized by declining incomes and climbing rates of unemployment and poverty in the West Bank and Gaza. The unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2006 was 19% in the West Bank and 36% in Gaza. Women, youth, the disabled, and the urban poor are among the most vulnerable to unemployment. As the number of female-headed households increase, poverty levels rise. Poverty levels within urban communities are increasing more dramatically than in rural areas, however rural communities affected by restrictions are highly vulnerable to poverty.
USAID Intervention
USAID aims at generating employment for poor Palestinians, rehabilitating community-managed infrastructure that will assist communities to meet basic needs and restore services. Rehabilitation activities will include the construction and renovation of private educational and health facilities; rehabilitation and development of community centers; construction of roads, sidewalks and public parks; construction of small-scale agricultural infrastructure (agricultural roads and fencing), as well as environmental clean up and management campaigns.
USAID provides skilled and unskilled emergency employment opportunities by designing and directing responsive small-scale labor-intensive infrastructure projects across a wide range of sectors to help alleviate humanitarian and short-term unemployment problems. This program plays a critical role in responding to unforeseen economic and infrastructure needs in most West Bank and Gaza geographical areas and will provide temporary jobs for over 2,000 Palestinians.
Latest Results
USAID has had a successful history of job creation through small-scale infrastructure investment programs. Wide-spread, local job creation by USAID provided employment opportunities to thousands of unemployed Palestinians while addressing the development of basic infrastructure needs. About 4,000 Palestinians have received salaries from USAID-funded infrastructure programs.
ROADS
Development Problem
USAID’s water and infrastructure program provides basic humanitarian and technical assistance, infrastructure and facilities to increase essential access to potable water and sanitation for needy Palestinian families, and to improve key infrastructure and transportation arteries within the West Bank and Gaza.
USAID Intervention
USAID finances the rehabilitation of 1.5 kilometers of the 2.5 kilometer-long Qalandia Road. This road is the primary road artery connecting Jerusalem via the Qalandiya crossing to the West Bank. All commercial and passenger traffic through the Qalandiya terminal passes on this section of road. The lack of a storm water drainage system has caused the existing pavement to deteriorate to an unsafe condition. An improved road service will improve Palestinian’s movement and access and significantly reduce damage to commercial and private vehicles, in addition to creating jobs during the construction phase.
USAID will also support a new Roads and Rehabilitation and Construction project to improve access in and out of the West Bank, with an initial focus on heavily populated areas in the West Bank. Activities will include the identification, design and construction of key roads and other infrastructure and facilities based on priorities of the Palestinian Authority. The new roads program will design and initiate new or improved road facilities to benefit up to one million Palestinians in the West Bank.
Latest Results
USAID has continued to make substantial progress, despite difficult security conditions and continuing obstacles to project implementation. USAID rehabilitated 170 kilometers of new roads in the West Bank.
