OPT: Palestinians get EC aid, but water and sanitation underfunded

The European Commission (EC) on 16 June 2008 announced a 24 million euro donation the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) for cash for work programmes, water and sanitation projects, health support and protection work. About half of the money would go to the West Bank and half to the Gaza Strip.

This was the second half of the EC’s humanitarian contribution to the oPt for 2008: in January 2008, 29 million euros were allocated for food aid and food security projects. Of the 53 million euro total, 54 percent went directly to meet the funding needs outlined in the multi-agency Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for 2008.

Of the US$461.9 million asked for in the CAP, $42.9 million was for water and sanitation. Experts said CAP funding this year was good – with some 45 percent funded as of this month, compared to just 29 percent this time last year – but water and sanitation had only received 4 percent of the requested amount.

The allocation of aid within the CAP revealed a tendency to to give short-term relief aid at the expense of long term development aid. This was leading to further aid dependency, especially in the already donor dependent oPt, some aid workers said.

Source: IRIN, 18 Jun 2008

Experts say Kurdistan’s water crisis inevitable

As neighboring dams go up, Kurdistan’s water level goes down.

The lack of clean drinking water and the destructive policies of neighboring countries [Turkey and Iran] will ultimately lead to a major loss in agricultural lands and a drought in Kurdistan Region.

Experts say the water crisis in Kurdistan Region is imminent in spite of too-late efforts to build several dams in the region.

[...]

Health officials said a lack of clean drinking water and rising temperatures in the region could spark another cholera epidemic similar to the one in 2007, which led to 2,000 infections and 24 deaths.

Read more: Khidhr Domle, The Kurdish Globe, 22 May 2008