JERUSALEM (BNEWS) – The European Union and Spain provided €28.5 million for the payment of social allowances through the National Cash Transfer Program benefitting 111,000 vulnerable Palestinian families, said the Office of the European Union Representative in a press release.
The EU supports the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), which is responsible for the provision of basic social protection to the most vulnerable families in the West Bank and Gaza through its Cash Transfer Program (CTP), said the release.
For this payment, the European Union has more than doubled its usual financial contribution providing €28.5 million, of which Spain allocated its annual contribution of €1 million.
After an interruption of CTP payments since May 2021 due to the fiscal crisis, this payment comes as a relief for the 111,000 families who suffered severe social and economic consequences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent hostilities in Gaza.
"Social protection is a basic human right that should be guaranteed by the government to all its people. In the Palestinian context, the most vulnerable families are facing enormous challenges. The European Development Partners have supported the Palestinian Authority for years to create a robust social protection system. The Cash Transfer Program is one of its crucial components. While we are aware of the very trying fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority, we hold that the rights of the most vulnerable families should be protected as a priority. These families deserve a predictable and reliable social allowance mechanism which we will continue to support", said EU Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff.
"For many years, Spain has been providing reliable and predictable support to the Palestinian Government for the delivery of essential public services to the Palestinian population, ensuring ownership and contributing to the reduction of multi-dimensional poverty", said the recently appointed Head of the Spanish Cooperation, Ventura Rodríguez García.
