The Palestinian Economy. Theoretical and Practical Challenges

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Proceedings “The Palestinian Economy: Theoretical and Practical Challenges” 283 component of emerging civil society. With the advent of the PA, however, the future of the PNGOs is less certain. PNGOs began largely as welfare organisations in the 1920s and 1930s and developed as a full-blown sector after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967. This “third sector” (as contrasted with the governmental and private sectors) developed further with the onset of the Intifada in December 1987. By the mid-1990s, PNGOs provided up to “60% of primary health care services, nearly 50% of hospital care, and 100% of disability care”; nearly 100% of all agricultural extension, training, and research; and about 30% of educational services, including almost all kindergartens and day-care centres. The Palestinian NGO sector has as many as 1,500 organisations employing anywhere from a handful of workers to as many as three hundred, the average staff being twenty. In all, the NGO sector employs 20,000-30,000 people. In addition, there are some two hundred international NGOs (INGOs) providing a similar range of activities to Palestinians, usually in cooperation with PNGOs. It is worth mentioning that even if we take the lower estimate of employment by PNGOs, the figure is still double the figure of people employed by all LGUs. Over 40% of PNGOs are concentrated in the Ramallah-Jerusalem-Bethlehem area, but many of these provide services to communities throughout Palestine. For example, two primary NGOs located in or near Jerusalem, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, provide agricultural extension services to Palestinian farmers throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Similarly, the Early Childhood Resource Center, headquartered near Bayt Hanina, trains preschool, kindergarten, and day-care teachers in villages and refugee camps throughout the West Bank (but not in Gaza due to Israeli restrictions). Most of the PNGOs are almost entirely dependent on foreign aid from a range of sources, including the European Union and various individual European states, Japan, the United States, UNICEF, United Nations Development Program, and INGOs such as Oxfam, Christian Aid, the Welfare Association (a Geneva-based Palestinian organisation), and the Arab Trust Fund (Kuwait). Almost all of this aid is now threatened or already has been stopped because donors are shifting resources to the PA. While many of the PNGOs are well-staffed and efficient operations, others are criticised by colleagues for lack of professionalism and non-accountability; a number of them do not have a general assembly or board of directors to which to report. Another problem in the NGO sector is duplication, often caused by factionalism. Internal divisions
284 Zagha within the Palestinian national movement were replicated in the occupied territories, with the various factions-the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian, Fatah-and other secular parties, not to mention the Islamic organisations, all having their own NGOs, resulting in some communities having a plethora of NGOs engaged in similar activities. Partially mitigating the tendency toward duplication is a large number of NGO networks and unions. Most of the PNGO activity in health is managed by two medical unions, the Union of Health Work Committees and the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees; in addition there are three other primary unions for health care. The Union of Voluntary Women’s Societies, one of eight unions for women’s activities, groups some fifty-five women’s organisations. Other unions and networks include, but are not limited to, two unions for education, two for agriculture, one primary network for the aged, one also for the disabled, one for conflict resolution, a new one dedicated to local NGOs monitoring the electoral process, and one consortium “for the right to live in Jerusalem.” Cross-sectoral coordination is one of the goals of the General Union of Charitable Associations in Palestine, which traditionally has been a primary conduit of economic assistance from the PLO and Arab donors to its 385 members, almost a third of all PNGOs. Originally organised in Jordan in the 1960s, the union moved its headquarters to Jerusalem in 1991 and has regional branches in Jerusalem, Hebron, and Nablus. (Attempts to establish a branch in Gaza have been prevented by Israel, apparently on the grounds that it could become dominated by Hamas.) Member organisations provide extensive services ranging from literacy and vocational training and financial aid (grants and loans) to running sports clubs, orphanages, day-care centres, and health clinics. 5.2. PNGOs Functions and Characteristics PNGOs encompass a wide variety of issues which include agriculture, business development, children and youth, community development, consumer protection, counselling and mental health, culture, democracy, research, media & communication, education, elderly people, environment, health, human rights and legal aid, special needs, and women. Some of these are politically affiliated to the wide spectrum of Palestinian political map. But affiliation does not necessarily mean the same level of activity. The Islamist movement, as well as the People’s Party have limited number of NGOs but they contribute more than what the sheer number of organisations may reveal. In Nablus, Islamic-affiliated NGOs do not exceed more than 25% of the NGOs in the district. Yet
Page 1 and 2: The Palestinian Economy Theoretical
Page 3 and 4: © Gianni Vaggi - Marco Missaglia -
Page 6: VOLUME II
Page 9 and 10: 246 Zagha 1. Introduction The local
Page 11 and 12: 248 Zagha and groups in political d
Page 13 and 14: 250 Zagha drawbacks in the politica
Page 15 and 16: 252 Zagha it is not surprising that
Page 17 and 18: 254 Zagha economy (including expend
Page 19 and 20: 256 Zagha social norms sharply dist
Page 21 and 22: 258 Zagha Bird (1995) puts it, info
Page 23 and 24: 260 Zagha intergovernmental fiscal
Page 25 and 26: 262 Zagha low rate flat tax levied
Page 27 and 28: 264 Zagha need to be given access t
Page 29 and 30: 266 Zagha Such failures are found i
Page 31 and 32: 268 Zagha 4.1.3. The Relationship b
Page 33 and 34: 270 Zagha a final account report of
Page 35 and 36: 272 Zagha 4.1.6. Functions of LGUs
Page 37 and 38: 274 Zagha • Management of LGU ass
Page 39 and 40: 276 Zagha Figure 2: Local Governmen
Page 41 and 42: 278 Zagha In summary, what the data
Page 43 and 44: 280 Zagha on the cash basis. Almost
Page 45: 282 Zagha Figure 7: Business Opinio
Page 49 and 50: 286 Zagha Table 5: Number of NGOs i
Page 51 and 52: 288 Zagha Fiscal decentralisation i
Page 53 and 54: 290 Zagha Burki, J., Perry, G., Dil
Page 55 and 56: 292 Zagha Palestinian Legislative C
Page 58 and 59: Issues, Performance and Trajectorie
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Assessing the Causes of Inequality
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424 Olivera provisions - in particu
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426 Olivera Figure 1: Economic Grow
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428 Olivera 3. Traditional economic
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430 Olivera costs and lower market
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The Palestinian Economy. Theoretical and Practical Challenges

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