Turkey and the Gulf countries have so far delivered only a small portion of the aid they pledged to Gaza during an international donors conference in November 2014, according to the latest World Bank figures.
Turkey, one of the top donors at the Cairo conference, has delivered just 0.26 percent of the aid it promised, handing over $520,000 out of $200 million, according to a World Bank report published on May 21. The report will be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, a forum of donors to the Palestinian Authority, at the bi-annual meeting in Brussels on May 27.
Gulf countries, who were among the top donors making pledges at the conference, have also so far been slow in delivering the promised aid. Qatar, which made an outstanding pledge at the Cairo conference to deliver $1 billion to help Gaza’s reconstruction after devastating Israeli attacks in the summer of 2013, has delivered only 10 percent. Saudi Arabia, which pledged $500 million, also delivered nearly 10 percent of its promised aid, paying $48.5 million.
Another Gulf donor, Kuwait, promised $200 million but has disbursed none of it so far.
The Cairo conference was convened to raise funds to respond to humanitarian needs of the Gazans and help the recovery of the impoverished coastal strip run by the Hamas group. Countries from across the world and international organizations pledged $3.5 billion to help Gaza over the period 2014-2017.
The World Bank report says based on information provided in the pledging forms filled out by donors at the conference, more than 70 percent of total support to Gaza is expected to be disbursed over the period 2014-2015.
Some 22 participants have already fully delivered on their original pledge to support Gaza that was made at the conference, according to the World Bank report. However, their overall disbursements ($217 million) represent only 6.2 percent of the total support pledged to Gaza.
Pledges from the top seven donors combined, on the other hand, amount to $2.7 billion, representing around 78 percent of total support to Gaza announced at the Cairo conference. Of $2.7 billion promised, the top seven donors — which include Turkey, the Gulf countries, the European Union and the US — have so far delivered just $525 million, or 19 percent, of their pledges.
The World Bank data shows the donors have so far delivered only 27.5 percent of the promised $3.5 billion, or $967 million total. But even that figure is mammoth when compared to the actual amount of money that was promised as new aid during the Cairo conference and delivered so far.
According to the report, only 35 percent of the $3.5 billion promised ($1.2 billion) consists of new funding, with the remaining $2.3 billion coming from reallocation of existing commitments or emergency humanitarian funding delivered while the Israeli strikes were still continuing. Of this fresh aid, only 13.5 percent has been delivered.
