'Money cannot fix' Palestinian woes before real reform: World Bank
AFP
Date: 03-02-05
LONDON (AFP) - International financial aid will not improve life for Palestinians until fundamental political reform is undertaken by their government, a World Bank official said.
"You cannot substitute donor assistance and money for a fundamental change in the policy environment," Nigel Roberts, the organization's country director for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, told a press conference.
"This remains one of the major messages that we try to convey... both to the Palestinian leadership and the donors community," he said. "If the policy environment is wrong, money cannot fix it."
Roberts' critique of Palestinian affairs came a day after an international meeting held in the British capital to support reforms promised by new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
The World Bank agreed at the meeting to take the lead in aiding reforms intended to rescue the conflict-shattered economy, which notably focus on fighting corruption and stimulating private-sector growth.
Roberts argued that Palestinians' well-being had continued its slide even as foreign aid increased, and that more people would trust Abbas' government once it had reversed the trend.
Palestinian personal income collapsed by 40 percent in real terms (taking into account inflation) over the past four years during the Intifada, or resistance, while disbursement of foreign donor aid doubled from 500 million dollars to one billion dollars per year, he said.
"If that doesn't show you how limited the impact of large sums of donors' assistance can be in a lousy policy environment, then nothing will," he said.
Reconstruction of the Palestinian economy will depend on improved security, strong anti-corruption measures and internal governance reforms, the World Bank expert added.
But critically, he argued, Israel must also lift its policies of border closures which vastly limit the mobility of Palestinians and merchandise within the territories.
"There is a clear link between security and (border) closure, and between Palestinian reforms and revival of investment and business prospects," Roberts said, adding that closure system could be dismantled in a way that "doesn't pose excessive risk to the Israelis".
Roberts also suggested Israel would not accept any "final status" negotiation on the creation of an independent Palestinian state right now.
"I don't believe that the Israeli political system can absorb anything over and above the disengagement of Gaza for the moment. It is already a genuinely traumatic process for Israel," he said.
Abbas got the backing at the London meeting of officials from 23 nations and six international organizations, including the World Bank and the United Nations, for his blueprint on economic, political and security reforms.
The European Union will take the lead in helping with administrative and political reform, while the United States will aid in reforming the Palestinian security services.
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