Background Release

PALESTINIAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE, GOVERNMENT OF JORDAN TO CONVENE SEMINAR

ON ASSISTANCE TO PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, IN AMMAN, 19-20 FEBRUARY

 

Seminar Comes at ‘Very Difficult Time’ for Palestinian People, as Conditions

Worsen in Occupied Palestinian Territory, Basic Humanitarian Needs Remain Unmet

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, with the agreement of the Government of Jordan, will convene the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People.  The Seminar will take place on 19 and 20 February, at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman, and it will be held in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly mandate by which the Committee is requested to mobilize international support for and assistance to the Palestinian People.

The Seminar comes at a very difficult time for the Palestinian people.  In the last several months, political, economic and social conditions have continued to deteriorate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  More than half of all Palestinians live in poverty, and basic humanitarian needs remain unmet.  Israeli military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the expansion of settlements, including in and around East Jerusalem, the construction of the wall, hundreds of checkpoints throughout the West Bank, the blockade and sanctions on the Gaza Strip -- all have contributed to the hardship suffered by the Palestinian people.  Assistance to the Palestinian people is greatly needed, not only to meet current humanitarian needs, but also tosupport the political process and build a strong foundation for a future Palestinian State.

Participants in the Seminar will review the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; discuss the United Nations, international and regional response to the needs of the Palestinian people; and exchange views on the immediate and longer-term steps that need to be taken on the road to Palestinian economic recovery.

Invited to the Seminar are internationally renowned experts, including Israeli and Palestinian, representatives of United Nations Members and Observers, United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, parliamentarians, representatives of civil society, as well as the media.

The opening session will take place on Tuesday, 19 February, at 9:30 a.m., in the “Rum” Conference Room of the Radisson SAS.  The Seminar will be opened by Dr. Salaheddin Al-Bashir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Jordan.  Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, is expected to speak as the representative of Palestine.  The opening session will also be addressed by Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and a Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; and Paul Badji, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.  This will be followed by a segment in which representatives of Governments, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations system entities will be invited to make statements.

Beginning in the afternoon of Tuesday, 19 February, three plenary sessions will address a variety of issues.  Each plenary will have a discussion period.  All sessions of the Seminar will be held in the “Rum” Conference Room on the ground floor of the hotel.  The Seminar hours will be from 9 a.m. to noon, and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The official languages of the Seminar will be Arabic, English and French.

Plenary I

Plenary I will begin on Tuesday, 19 February, at 2 p.m.  The session will discuss the “Current constraints and challenges to the Palestinian economic development:  The situation on the ground”.  The discussion will include a look at the economic and humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; assessment of the scope of the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip; and presentations on creating an enabling environment for Palestinian economic recovery.  Speakers will include Mohammad Shtayyeh, President, Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction; Khaled Abdel Shafi, Head of the United Nations Development Programme -- Gaza Office; Lana Tatour, Information Coordinator, Gisha -- Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement; Rosemary Willey, Field Coordinator for the West Bank, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Tor Wennesland, Donor Coordination Adviser, Office of the Special Envoy of the Quartet; John Ging, Director of Operations, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); and William D. Corcoran, President, American Near-East Refugee Aid.

Plenary II

Plenary II entitled “Towards a viable Palestinian economy -- From dependence to rehabilitation, reform and economic recovery” will start at 9 a.m., on Wednesday, 20 February.  During the plenary, experts and participants will discuss the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan; make proposals for stabilizing the Palestinian economy, including through international assistance mechanisms; and talk about establishing Israeli-Palestinian economic links and creating conditions for private sector development.  Speakers will include Samir Abdullah, Minister of Planning of the Palestinian Authority; Mohammed Mustafa, President, Palestinian Investment Fund; Roy Dickinson, Head of Operations, European Commission Technical Assistance Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Takeshi Naruse, Resident Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA Office in the West Bank and Gaza; Nasser Shraideh, Secretary-General, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Jordan; Iyad Judeh, Executive Director, Palestine International Business Forum; and Roby Nathanson, General Director, Macro Center for Political Economics.

Plenary III

Plenary III is entitled “Mobilizing international assistance in support of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan”.  The plenary will take place on 20 February, from 2:30 to 5 p.m.  The following issues will be discussed:  “Underpinning the political process -- The Paris Donors’ Conference”; the role of the United Nations system; and the contribution of intergovernmental and civil society organizations.  Speakers will include Mohammed Kamal Hassoneh, Minister for National Economy, Palestinian Authority; Atif Kubursi, Professor of Economics, McMaster University; Wajih Azaizeh, Director-General, Palestinian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jordan; Lex Takkenberg, General Counsel, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; Naomi Mark, Gaza Project Coordinator, Physicians for Human Rights -- Israel; and Charles Clayton, National Director, World Vision, Israel.

The closing session will take place on Wednesday, 20 February, from 5 to 5:30 p.m.

The report of the Seminar will be issued as a publication of the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat.

A press conference will be held on 20 February at noon, at the Seminar site.  Interested journalists will also have the opportunity to arrange individual interviews with the members of the delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and participating experts.

Participants and observers, including the media, are kindly requested to register with the United Nations Secretariat in the course of Sunday or Monday, 17 or 18 February.  Registration will take place in the main secretariat of the Seminar, Room 111, on the first floor of the hotel.  The United Nations Secretariat will be open from 10 a.m. on both days.

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For information media • not an official record