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News Releases
No. 75/06
September 1, 2006
MIDDLE EAST: EU-CRAFTED TEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL MECHANISM FULLY OPERATIONAL
The European Commission has started social allowance payments to those in urgent
need in the
Palestinian Territories, meaning all three elements
(support for health services, utilities and social allowances) of its
Temporary International Mechanism (TIM)--developed at the request of the Middle East Quartet (EU, US, UN
and Russia) and agreed in June--are now up and running.
 Welcoming
the development, EU
External Relations
Commissioner
Benita
Ferrero-Waldner said: “I am glad to say that we are now delivering under all
elements of the TIM: essential supplies for hospitals, the uninterrupted supply
of energy and the payment of social allowances. With the TIM we have kept our
promise to help relieve the suffering of the Palestinian people during the
current crisis – and I believe it is crucial that the mechanism should be
continued. I hope that the three-month review foreseen for September will decide
to prolong an initiative that is bringing very concrete benefits to the
Palestinian people. The TIM is an example of the constructive role that the EU can play
in the Middle East. It is due to the efforts of the Commission that the project
was launched, and the operation, led by a European team, managing contributions
from the European Commission and Member States, is proof of the EU’s capacity to
act in the most difficult circumstances.”
The new
allowances (of around €270 each) will be made to those who have suffered a
significant loss of income due to the financial crisis, to pensioners and other
social hardship cases. Earlier actions under the TIM have included delivery of fuel to hospitals and
water pumps to protect public health and social allowance
payments to Palestinian doctors and nurses, to enable them to continue to work.
So far the TIM has benefited:
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413 primary health care centers and 22 hospitals, which have received
essential medical supplies and running costs;
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1.3 million people in the Gaza strip have access to water, health care and
sanitation thanks to the TIM;
-
625,000 people will benefit from social allowances under TIM,
including 11,500 health workers;
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Payments of additional allowances will depend on pledges received from other
donors;
-
TIM has delivered over 1.5 million liters of fuel to ensure the continued
supply of energy, in particular for hospitals, and water sanitation in the Gaza
Strip following the destruction of the Gaza power plant in July.
The Commission has allocated €105 million to the TIM bringing the total made
available from the Community Budget so far this year to the Palestinian people
to €330 million. So far, EU Member States are contributing around €60 million to
the TIM.
For more information:
http://www.eurunion.org/newsweb/HotTopics/mideast.htm#MoreNews
For more information on EU-West Bank and Gaza Strip relations:
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/gaza/intro/index.htm
EU Contributes €105 Million to the
Temporary International Mechanism
for the Palestinians (June 23, 2006)
Fuel for Palestinian Hospitals:
First European Commission Action through the
Temporary International Mechanism (July 11, 2006)
Water for Gaza: European Commission
Brings Further Relief under the
Temporary International Mechanism (July 17, 2006)
First Payments to
Palestinian Health
Workers under Temporary
International Mechanism (July 27, 2006)
Further Contact Information
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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