The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Reconstruction and early recovery
Since the end of 2010, the Israeli Government has instituted a new regime
of approval of UN construction projects that require Israeli approval
of each project before construction materials will be allowed to be imported
to Gaza. This long and cumbersome process, while an improvement
over the situation since 2007, still restricts UNRWA’s ability to
carry out essential construction for the benefit of the Palestinian refugees,
including re-housing projects, schools and health centres. As at
June 30, 2011, seventy-three UNRWA construction projects worth $187
million have been approved by the Israeli authorities. This represents
28% of the UNRWA Recovery and Reconstruction Plan. Of these, sixteen
have been completed, while eighteen are ongoing and thirty-nine
are pending, awaiting completion of their final design, the tendering or
contracting processes, or the availability of donor funds. The approved
projects include:
Forty-two schools
Fifty-six classrooms in seven different schools
1466 shelters for construction
147 shelters for repair
five health centres (conversion, reconstruction or construction)
three water and sanitation projects
one kindergarten
one community building
three UNRWA facilities (a refugee service centre, an emergency
building and a warehouse).
In addition, forty-seven submitted UNRWA projects are under review by
the Israeli Army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
(COGAT), including three fully funded large-scale housing projects, a teach -
er training college, water and sanitation infrastructure rehabilitation and
thirty-two schools. These projects have a total budget of $163 million.
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