EU PLEDGES $7.7m TO PALESTINIAN MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM II

Ramallah, 27 Jumadil Awwal 1436/18 March 2015 (MINA) – The European Union (EU) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Monday announced a new EU contribution of €7.3 ($7.7) million to support the second cycle of the Municipal Development Program II.

The signing ceremony, which took place at the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) office in the city of al-Bireh was attended by top EU representatives and Palestinian ministers, Wafa News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Municipal Development Program is a multi-phase national program funded by the Palestinian Authority, the European Union, the German Government (through KfW and GIZ), l’ Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the World Bank, the Danish Government (through DANIDA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (through SIDA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and VNG International with the support of the Dutch Government, and Kingdom of Belgium (through BTC).

The objective of the program is to improve the quality and coverage of municipal service delivery by the 137 Palestinian municipalities, which will be achieved by improving municipal management practices and insuring greater accountability and transparency in service delivery.

The Municipal Development Program aims to contribute to the wider objective set out in the Palestinian National Development Plan of strengthening the performance of local government in delivering public services and thereby making them more accessible to citizens.

The program targets all 137 municipalities and provides municipalities with a combination of technical assistance and annual performance-based grants for priority sub-projects designed to improve municipal finance and municipal planning.

The performance-based grants aim to create incentives for municipalities to introduce improved management principles in financial management thereby enhancing overall creditworthiness.

‘Municipalities and Local Government Units are crucial not only because of their role as service providers, but also because of the close relationship they enjoy with citizens thereby strengthening democratic participation and citizen empowerment,” said the EU Representative, John Gatt-Rutter at the signing ceremony.

“Our contribution of 7.3 million Euros will be dedicated to municipal capital investment projects and to supporting ways to enhance citizen oversight of service delivery, and improve revenue generation and payment discipline.”

Matthias Hahl, the Program’s Manager, said, “The Municipal Development Program contributes significantly to the improvement of municipalities’ service delivery and inducing reforms at the local government sector.”(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)