Working in Crises and Conflict

Overview

Food distribution in Hebron funded by USAID and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

In order to help address the increased poverty and food insecurity problems in the West Bank and Gaza prevalent since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000, USAID provides humanitarian support through the World Food Programme, while in Gaza the Palestinian Community Assistance Program is working to rebuild and improve community infrastructure and housing while identifying and developing feasible economic opportunities to provide employment and income for Gaza’s vulnerable people. USAID’s reconciliation programs promote peaceful coexistence among Israelis and Palestinians and improve mutual understanding and dialogue on issues of common concern.

Goals

• Provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable and food-insecure populations throughout the West Bank and Gaza
• Promote peaceful coexistence through people-to-people projects
• Help rebuild destroyed or neglected infrastructure and housing in Gaza and offer economic opportunities for Gaza’s most disadvantaged residents
   

Active Projects

Palestinian Community Assistance Program

The Palestinian Community Assistance Program is the primary USAID development initiative in Gaza. The program has been designed to help Palestinians rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure, drive economic growth, and support social recovery. Specifically, the program is partnering with communities to rebuild destroyed or neglected infrastructure and housing, creating opportunities to increase employment and family incomes through cash-for-work and small-scale farming initiatives and providing training and other opportunities to give youth the skills needed to find jobs and contribute to the economic development of Gaza. The program also provides humanitarian assistance and social support through education and mental well-being programs.

Peace and Reconciliation Program

USAID’s reconciliation programs are part of a worldwide effort to bring together individuals of different ethnic, religious, or political backgrounds from areas of conflict in order to address the root causes of tension and instability. This program’s goals are to promote peaceful coexistence among Israelis and Palestinians and improve mutual understanding and dialogue on issues of common concern. Programs work with Israelis and Palestinians in order to reach common goals or solve shared issues.

UN World Food Program (WFP)

Since the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000, Palestinian families have experienced increased poverty and food insecurity. The 2010 Socio-Economic and Food Security Survey estimated that 1.43 million people are food insecure in the Palestinian Territories, approximately 33 percent of the population. In Gaza, 52 percent of households are food insecure. The World Food Program (WFP) receives direct cash support from the USAID West Bank and Gaza Mission which is complemented by periodic in-kind donations of Food for Peace. Beneficiaries receive rations of fortified wheat flour, vegetable oil, chickpeas, sugar, and salt.