EU Aid and Development Planning in the Occupied West Bank

Abstract:

On 4 October 2017 senior diplomats, NGO experts, researchers and academics participated in an international seminar co-organized by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and GVC-Italia in Rome to address Italy’s and the EU’s evolving strategy towards Area C, presently comprising over 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, and highlight the primary impediments, risks and constraints impacting humanitarian and developmental projects in the area.

Speakers provided detailed accounts of current and future initiatives in Area C and discussed potential strategies at the national and EU level that may help to improve long-term developmental initiatives for the area in the context of the EU’s support for two states in Israel/Palestine.

Particular attention was directed at efforts to enhance coordination between the EU and its member states in the context of the provision of humanitarian and development aid to Palestinian communities in Area C, as well as to the experiences and priorities of Italian Development Cooperation in Palestine.