Minister Fayot Visits Occupied Palestinian Territories

From Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 September 2022, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, paid a working visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

The purpose of the trip was to visit various aid projects and humanitarian and development cooperation supported by Luxembourg Development Cooperation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In the Bethlehem region, Minister Fayot visited two primary schools, the first located in Dura, benefiting from the support of the NGO Handicap International Luxembourg and which aims to facilitate equitable access to education for children living with disability. The second school in Tal Al-Rabee benefits from the support of the local NGO Teacher Creativity Center for the reinforcement of socio-emotional and psycho-cognitive techniques of teachers to better target students with learning difficulties and emotional disorders.

During the visit to the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Minister Fayot was able to gain insight into the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), whose services include, among others, education, health care, relief and social services. The visit to the camp was also an opportunity to meet the local partner of the NGDO ASTM, "Al-Rowwad", which sets up cultural activities aimed at improving the well-being of young people in the camp and promoting living together.

In Hebron, Minister Fayot visited the vocational training centre, supported by the local NGO Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC), which also aims to rehabilitate people with professional, social, psychological and economic disabilities.

The Minister also had the opportunity to have exchanges with the President of the NGO Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), Dr Mustapha Barghouthi, in particular on the situation of the Palestinians in the old city of Hebron and to visit at the same time their “safe space” centre for women and all people facing gender-based violence.

With regard to humanitarian aid projects in the OPT, the trip made it possible to take stock with the International Committee of the Red Cross on international humanitarian law in the OPT, as well as to obtain a better understanding of the situation of demolitions, evictions and forced transfers as well as violence by certain settlers thanks to representatives of the West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC).

In Ramallah, Minister Fayot had a meeting with Mohammad Shtayyeh, Palestinian Prime Minister, during which the situation in the OPT and the role of cooperation in improving Palestinian resilience were discussed. Meetings were also held with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riad Al-Maliki, and Minister of Finance and Planning, Shoukry Bishara, on Luxembourg's current support in terms of development cooperation and humanitarian aid and on potential avenues for strengthening cooperation support.

On the sidelines of the visit, Minister Fayot had a meeting with Head of Mission of the European Union in Palestine, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, Head of Office of DG European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) in Palestine, Oliver Rousselle, and representative of the European Investment Bank in the West Bank and Gaza, Francesco Totaro. Minister Fayot also participated in a working dinner with representatives of the local NGO Coalition for Accountability and Integrity, the national chapter of Transparency International.