UN provides half aid to Palestinians

The UN has only provided 52 percent of its target for humanitarian aid to Palestine in 2010, making it the largest shortfall since the plan started in 2003.

Maxwell Gaylard, UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, said the “disappointing figure” for 2010 is mainly due to the global economic crisis as well as the natural disasters in Pakistan and Haiti.

The plan, called the Consolidated Appeals Process, only managed to raise $259.2 million for Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

In 2003, the UN launched an appeal to the member states and international organizations to provide aid to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to Gaylard’s office, donors say some of the projects such as education, agriculture and sanitation cannot be deemed as emergency items.

Palestine was the United Nations’ sixth most under-funded appeal in 2010, the office said.