58The <strong>National</strong> <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Recovery</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Reconstruction</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gaza</strong> <strong>2014</strong>SECTION 4: RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION INTERVENTIONS4.4 Governance SectorThe consolidation of the public administration in <strong>Gaza</strong> is both a means <strong>and</strong> an end. In the short-term, the implementation of therecovery <strong>and</strong> reconstruction plan can only be achieved by restoring <strong>and</strong> maintaining the existing operational capacity of central<strong>and</strong> local government institutions, under the authority of the Government. These operational capacities are absolutely vital tothe implementation of the recovery <strong>and</strong> reconstruction plan as a whole, <strong>and</strong> thus constitute an overall recovery foundation.Within an overall climate of a fragile security situation, stability can be undermined easily. <strong>Early</strong> recovery <strong>and</strong> reconstructionwill quickly lose traction if a security vacuum is allowed to take hold in <strong>Gaza</strong>. Preventing a security vacuum will require themaintenance of law <strong>and</strong> order under the authority of the Government by reintroducing civil police under a unified comm<strong>and</strong>.Maintaining <strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ing the operational capacity of the Government will need to go h<strong>and</strong> in h<strong>and</strong> with the reconstructionof destroyed <strong>and</strong> damaged infrastructure <strong>for</strong> Government institutions.4.4.1 Operational Capacity of Central Government InstitutionsRelief <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Recovery</strong> <strong>Reconstruction</strong> Total- $113m - $113mTo boost existing operational capacities of government institutions in <strong>Gaza</strong> <strong>for</strong> recovery <strong>and</strong> reconstruction, theGovernment aims at reintegrating existing civil servants, hired be<strong>for</strong>e June 2007 into Government institutions,streamlining the civil service, <strong>and</strong> fully harmonizing these institutions with national institutions.The <strong>National</strong> Consensus Government has established a Legal <strong>and</strong> Administrative Committee to explore options <strong>and</strong>scenarios <strong>for</strong> consolidating the civil service <strong>and</strong> determining the status of the civil personnel engaged by the previousde facto authority in <strong>Gaza</strong>. This committee was established in early June <strong>and</strong> originally m<strong>and</strong>ated <strong>for</strong> four months. Dueto the political <strong>and</strong> security situation in <strong>Gaza</strong>, the work of the committee has been stalled since early July. A HigherSecurity Committee will be established by the President that will discuss the options <strong>for</strong> the security apparatus.
59The work of these committees will need to explore options <strong>for</strong> affected personnel, including the options <strong>for</strong> earlyretirement, retraining, <strong>and</strong> job placement in the private sector or with non-governmental service providers. At thesame time, the consolidation process needs to take into account the existing civil servants in <strong>Gaza</strong> who have not beenon active duty <strong>for</strong> the past seven years <strong>and</strong> might require renewed training <strong>and</strong> capacity development to fulfill theirfunctions. The consolidation process will need to be guided by available fiscal resources <strong>and</strong> real needs on the groundin each sector.The reconsolidation of the public administration, however, will not be completed by harmonizing civil servants in<strong>Gaza</strong> <strong>and</strong> the West Bank. Beyond civil servants, the Government will implement an action plan <strong>for</strong> national institutionalreintegration <strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> harmonizing the administrative legal framework. In doing so, the <strong>National</strong> Consensus Governmentwill adopt a sequenced approach <strong>and</strong> prioritize sectors crucial <strong>for</strong> service delivery, which simultaneously also containthe largest number of personnel.Reintegrating the rule of law system is important <strong>for</strong> functional social <strong>and</strong> economic ties between the West Bank <strong>and</strong><strong>Gaza</strong>. A functioning public administration furthermore requires freedom of movement within the country, whichincludes the ability to meet in person by traveling between the West Bank <strong>and</strong> <strong>Gaza</strong>, which under the Oslo Accordsconstitute a “single territorial unit”.The consolidation of the public administration will not only cement the <strong>National</strong> Consensus Government but will alsoimprove fiscal sustainability <strong>and</strong> effective service delivery <strong>for</strong> recovery, reconstruction, <strong>and</strong> longer-term development.However, this consolidation cannot be implemented overnight <strong>and</strong> will take several months.In the meantime, the smooth operation of central government institutions in <strong>Gaza</strong> needs to be safeguarded. Duringsuch a transition period, until the Legal <strong>and</strong> Administrative Committee concludes its works, it is essential that civilpersonnel engaged by the previous de facto authority receive compensation in the <strong>for</strong>m of social allowances <strong>for</strong> sixmonths under a temporary mechanism, outside the government budget, enabling them to concentrate on their workwhile they <strong>and</strong> their families are provided <strong>for</strong>. This assumes that in parallel the Legal <strong>and</strong> Administrative Committee isable to assume its work aimed at resolving the status of this group <strong>and</strong> consolidating the civil service.This requires support to the Legal <strong>and</strong> Administrative Committee in defining a mechanism <strong>for</strong> expedited steps,sequenced by priority sectors, towards the consolidation of civil servants, institutions <strong>and</strong> applicable legal frameworks.Once the mechanism has been elaborated, its implementation will also require initial funding to accommodate <strong>and</strong>retrain civil servants <strong>for</strong> resuming their positions.4.4.2 Operational Capacity of Local Government InstitutionsRelief <strong>Early</strong> <strong>Recovery</strong> <strong>Reconstruction</strong> Total- $31m - $31mIn order to restore <strong>and</strong> maintain the operational capacity of local government units in <strong>Gaza</strong> <strong>for</strong> recovery <strong>and</strong> reconstruction tasks,the Government seeks immediate exceptional supplementary funding <strong>for</strong> municipal personnel <strong>for</strong> a period of six months. Fuel<strong>and</strong> office supplies will also be provided.Restoring physical infrastructure <strong>and</strong> equipment <strong>for</strong> municipalities will be equally important in order to allow municipalities toprovide regular services, <strong>and</strong> support their role in the recovery <strong>and</strong> reconstruction ef<strong>for</strong>t.
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