Aid
Restricting
The Challenges of Delivering Assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
A Research Report June 2011
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1. Introduction
The occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is made up of two geographic areas: the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. In both areas, Israel maintains a complex system of restrictions on move-ment and access. In the West Bank, checkpoints, roadblocks, a permit system and the ‘Wall’ and its ‘seam zone’
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inhibit the movement of Palestinians. In the Gaza Strip, a permit system is augmented by control over a ‘buffer zone’ or perimeter area between Gaza and Israel and a sea blockade. Movement and access restrictions increase poverty and fragment the Palestinian territory.
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Humanitarian agencies should help mitigate the impacts on Palestin-ian communities, but these restrictions also affect the movement and access of international organizations operating in the oPt. The restrictions mean that aid workers and related goods cannot move freely between the communities they serve, impeding humanitarian and development work in the territory. The restrictions decrease the effectiveness and sustainability of aid operations, deny the most vulnerable populations from
needed assistance and signicantly increase the costs
of delivering assistance. The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), representing 84 international humanitarian and development agencies working in the oPt, conducted a survey of its members to assess and quantify the impact these restrictions have on the effectiveness of aid de-livery to communities in the oPt. The overall objectives of the study were to gain a better understanding of both the scale and types of restrictions that AIDA members face with regards to access and movement, and to
make initial ndings on the impact of these restrictions
on costs and on the ability of AIDA members to deliver aid and development programs in the territory.
2. Summary of Findings
Access and movement restrictions for international
non-government organizations (INGOs) are signicant, widespread, costly and difcult to overcome. As a result
Women walking next to a military barrier in the West Bank. Photo by Y. Lein
Embargoed until 00:00 GMT June 8, 2011
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of these restrictions, vulnerable communities are not be-ing reached, the quality of programming is compromised and the long-term impact of humanitarian and develop-ment interventions are reduced.
A. AIDA member organisations face severe restrictions on the movement of staff.
Restrictions include denial of access permits, denial of project permits and denial of work visas for those oper-ating in Gaza or in Area C of the West Bank.The complexities of obtaining the requisite documen-tation to freely move national and international staff between Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza severely hampers the ability of AIDA members to deliver projects, effectively manage and monitor projects, hire appropri-ate personnel, share best practices, train staff or coordi-nate with other organizations.
B. Restrictions cost agencies an estimated additional US$4.5 million per year.
AIDA members have had to try to overcome these obstacles with costly coping mechanisms. They have introduced parallel management structures in the West Bank and Gaza, which costs time and money. Interna-tional staff are recruited for positions that require travel between the West Bank and Gaza even though these
jobs could be lled by Palestinian national staff at less
cost, if they had the ability to move freely. Extra staff positions have had to be created to compensate for the time required to apply for permits and visas needed to allow for movement of staff around the West Bank and Gaza. This increases the cost of aid delivery, meaning fewer resources for the communities with whom we work.
C. Restrictions decrease the effectiveness and sustainability of aid operations
AIDA members are unable to bring materials necessary for their programming into the communities that need it most. This impact is most severely felt in Gaza, but the same applies to areas of the West Bank and for moving goods into Jerusalem. The impact of the restrictions on the movement of goods and materials into Gaza is an
overall reduced level of planned activities, a signicant
number of delayed or cancelled projects and projects that have been changed or redesigned because of the lack of materials of suitable quality. In the context of the protracted occupation in the oc-cupied Palestinian territory, the restrictions create an environment in which mainly short-term humanitarian projects or activities that do not require equipment or materials can be implemented, affecting the sustain-ability of aid programs and the prospects of broader long-term development in the oPt. For example, severe restrictions on bringing building materials into Gaza has meant that instead of focusing on re-building homes and water and sewage networks destroyed during the latest military attacks on Gaza, many agencies and donors have shifted to providing psychosocial assistance to children and families instead. While both types of pro-gramming are important, the former has been impos-sible to implement.
D. Restrictions deny the most vulnerable populations from vital services.
Current movement and access restrictions make it dif
-cult or impossible for aid workers to reach some com-munities and individuals in need of assistance. Projects and activities are often delayed and services delivered late or incompletely. Those communities living in heav-ily restricted areas (who are more vulnerable because of their isolation) may not receive aid at all because of existing restrictions on humanitarian access or because
donor policies do not target them due to the difculties
of project implementation. To cope with these restrictions, both donors and aid agencies have designed access-responsive instead of needs-responsive programmes, meaning they target accessible geographic areas instead of the most vulner-able populations. For example, in Area C of the West Bank (rural areas under full Israel control), in particular the ‘seam zone’ border area and the Jordan Valley, AIDA members report a decrease in funding for activi-ties because of the inability of staff and goods to access these areas, due to a combination of permits needed from the Israeli government and other access issues. Agencies have also suspended humanitarian program-ming like “cash-for-work” programmes and mobile health clinics because restrictive permit requirements make it nearly impossible or illegal to deliver essential services to communities in the ‘seam zone’. However, the most serious consequence of these ac-cess restrictions is the growing impoverishment of the communities themselves and, due to their increasing isolation, their inability to address their own needs inde-pendent of humanitarian assistance.
3. Legal Framework
The current restrictions are affecting the rapid delivery of basic and essential services that these organizations have undertaken to provide due to the failure of Israel, as the Occupying Power, to respect its obligations under the Geneva Conventions in the context of long-term oc-cupation.
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The international com-munity has established that, under Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Conven-tion, the Occupying Power has a positive duty to the fullest extent of the means available to it of ensuring the food and the medical supplies of the occupied population and it should bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles - such as means of shelter
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- if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate. In the oPt, this obligation has not been met. Therefore, international agencies have responded to the humanitarian needs of the occupied population, with-out waiving the obligation of the Occupying Power. In this case, as in all cases where an occupied terri-tory is inadequately sup-plied, the Occupying Power is bound to agree to relief schemes for the population and must facilitate them by all the means at its disposal
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. The occupation authorities must therefore co-operate wholeheartedly in their rapid execution. Israel’s exercise of jurisdiction and effective control in the Palestinian territory also engages its obligations under international human rights law. These include for example, the right to adequate standard of living includ-ing the right to adequate housing, and numerous obliga-tions for the protection of the rights of women, children, disabled, elderly and displaced persons. Therefore, the occupying power should not only facilitate humanitar-ian relief and development activities but enable activi-ties undertaken by international organisations and their national partners.The current policy of movement restrictions undermines the basic right to freedom of movement within the oc-cupied territory that should generally be unimpaired and not be commonly suspended
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. Movement restrictions should be non-discriminatory and only implemented if proved with concrete evidence to be solely based on military necessity
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and/or are needed to maintain public order and safety
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. Further, movement restrictions must be temporary
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at all times.
4. About AIDA
The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) is a membership body and coordination forum of
international non-governmental and non-prot organiza
-tions that share a common interest in promoting appro-priate development and humanitarian programs in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). AIDA seeks to support the Palestinian people’s self-development by providing a mechanism for member organizations to work collaboratively. Its core functions are networking for the relief and development assis-tance community, facilitating information-sharing, and promoting advocacy, security, and training.Membership in AIDA is open to:International non-governmental and non-
prot organizations who are headquartered out
-side Israel and the oPt and who have a presence on the ground in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and/or East Jerusalem.Organizations, as above, who are involved in implementing long- or short-term development, emergency, or humanitarian relief programs with the overall aim of supporting Palestinian society.
Recommendations
In light of the increasingly difcult humanitarian conditions in the oPt,
particularly in those areas most affected by restrictions on movement and access, as well as the requirements of international law, AIDA makes the following recommendations: The civilian population must be allowed to enjoy basic rights guaranteed in international law, including the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence, as well as the right to an ade-quate standard of living, adequate housing, and access to education and healthcare. AIDA members’ staff must have impartial, rapid and unimpeded access within and between all areas of operation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. The international community should urge the Government of Is-rael to ensure impartial, rapid and unimpeded access of humanitar-ian and development agencies to all areas of operations in the oPt.