The Department for International Development today announced that it will implement key changes to its funding of the Palestinian Authority, in a move welcomed by CFI.
DfID confirmed that it will be making a series of critical changes to its funding to the PA as part of its ongoing examination into aid to the Palestinians. In a welcome move, DfID announced that it is redirecting aid to “focus solely on vital health and education services”, with the assurance that funding will “only go towards the salaries of health and education public servants on a vetted list”.
The announcement affirmed that “UK funds will no longer be used to support the salaries of Palestinian Authority public servants in Gaza who have not been able to work”.
Lastly, DfID stated that the Government will “assess fiscal and public financial management reforms that the Palestinian Authority will need to show progress against in order to secure full future payments from the UK”.
CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE welcomed DfID’s announcement:
“After years of campaigning against the Palestinian Authority’s abuse of international aid to fund the salaries of prisoners convicted of terror, today’s announcement is welcome news from DfID. With the redirection of aid to education and health, the ability of the Palestinian Authority to abuse this funding to reward terror is significantly reduced and the money will now go to those most in need.
“It is clear that the Secretary of State for International Development, Rt. Hon. Priti Patel MP, is taking concerns seriously, and it is now essential that DfID rigorously scrutinises the PA to ensure it is no longer misusing British taxpayers’ money.
“We also call on DfID to continue looking into allocating aid to vital coexistence projects which lay the groundwork for peace”.
CFI Parliamentary Chairman, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP said:
“Today’s announcement that DfID will now identify individual recipients of UK aid is an important step forward. It is a change that is undoubtedly in the best interests of Palestinian residents and will ensure that money gets through to legitimate recipients and not siphoned away to pet vanity projects, terrorism, or other misuse”.
