Spain announces 36-million euro donation to Palestine at Cairo conference

The conference was organised with the aim of gathering support and financing for the 'Recovery and Reconstruction of Gaza Plan", designed by the Palestine National Authority for the period 2014-2017.

The Spanish contribution will be channelled through the Palestinian institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the PEGASE Mechanism (Palestinian-European mechanism to manage socio-economic aid).

In 2014, the Spanish aid contribution, through the Spanish Co-operation Agency (AECID), will amount to approximately 7.8 million euros. Of this total, UNRWA will receive 1 million euros in Spanish aid, particularly designed to tackle the refugee population in Gaza, in addition to the amount received in July this year.

To date, a total contribution of 3,178,000 euros has been provided in Spanish aid through AECID in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Spain has historically strong ties with the people of Palestine and has been one of the main donors in terms of Official Development Aid, amounting to some 600 million euros since 2005. The continuity of this commitment will be formalised this year with the scheduled signing of the first Country Association Framework agreement between Spain and the Palestine National Authority, which will ratify their cooperation association for the coming years.