History

The UNCTAD secretariat's work on the economy of the occupied Palestinian territory began in 1979, when Conference resolution 109 (V) requested UNCTAD to initiate studies for the benefit of the Palestinian people in collaboration with the Palestine Liberation Organization(1).

 That work was intensified in 1985 with the establishment of a Special Economic Unit (Palestinian people) within the secretariat, in accordance with Conference resolution 146 (VI) of 1983, to monitor and investigate policies that hampered the development of the Palestinian economy. This mandate was upheld by UNCTAD VIII in 1992 and endorsed by the General Assembly in its decision 47/455, requesting UNCTAD to "sustain its programme for the Palestinian people in its current form in close cooperation with the Palestine Liberation Organization".

Within the new context created by the Israeli-Palestinian accords since 1993, the UN Medium Term Plan for the Period 1998-2001 called upon UNCTAD to continue its programme of assistance to the Palestinian people in accordance with its mandate(2). Since 2000, UNCTAD's mandate has been reaffirmed in the Plan of Action adopted at UNCTAD X, which welcomed the assistance provided by UNCTAD to the Palestinian people and called for it to be intensified(3). Since then, UNCTAD's Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit (APPU) has been integrated into the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies (DGDS). It is currently served by two professional staff members and an Associate Expert funded by the Government of Netherlands.

UNCTAD was the first international organization to examine the structural weaknesses of the Palestinian economy and coherent strategies for setting the economy on the path of sustainable development. In 1990, UNCTAD began an intersectoral research project to investigate the impact of policies affecting the performance of the economy and examine its future prospects. The "intersectoral research project on prospects for sustained economic development in the Palestinian territory" entailed the preparation of 20 in-depth field studies covering the main economic and social sectors. The studies were undertaken from three perspectives. The first part of the studies provided an analysis of the prevailing situation, identification of problems and needs and consideration of measures for immediate action. The second and third parts, which were completed in 1994, focused on future prospects for achieving sustainable social and economic development, guided by a conceptual and quantitative framework. The framework allowed UNCTAD to investigate, according to different scenarios, possibilities for the development of the economy for the period 1990-2010. This included ascertaining prospects for developing the economy in a more conducive environment with a less restrictive policy environment, as well as scenarios based on the absorption of one to two million Palestinian returnees over a 10- year period.

The Israel-Palestine peace accords of 1993-1994 highlighted the relevance of UNCTAD's forward-looking work on the Palestinian economy, providing a new economic environment with promising opportunities for accelerating growth and ensuring a more sustained path of development. Accordingly, the secretariat's work on the Palestinian economy was further intensified with a clear emphasis being placed on operational activities. This entailed transforming UNCTAD's programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, i.e. replacing the focus on research and analysis by the integrated and sustained deployment of the range of the UNCTAD secretariat's substantive capacities in the context of technical cooperation activities, backstopped by appropriate research and policy analysis. This reorientation aimed at providing concrete assistance with a view to bolstering Palestinian institutional development and helping to create an enabling environment for the private sector through a range of technical cooperation modalities. It was deemed a natural and useful evolution in a work programme that had produced a solid substantive basis for relevant and effective technical cooperation and policy advice.

Within this context, and guided by the findings and recommendations of the intersectoral project, the secretariat initiated in 1995-1997 an integrated programme of technical assistance activities in favour of the Palestinian people. Whereas the findings of the in-depth studies cover most economic and social sectors, only those of direct relevance to UNCTAD's mandate and overall development goals and policy guidelines adopted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) were considered. More specifically, the proposed technical assistance activities concentrate on those areas where the secretariat has established operational capacities within its fields of competence, namely international trade, transportation, finance, investment and related policy issues. Following to close consultations with Palestine on its priorities, scope and implementation modalities, the umbrella programme was further developed and finalized before being endorsed by the PA in 1995.

The programme served as the broad framework for a series of advisory missions, training sessions and workshops, in response to requests for assistance from different Ministries of the PA. On the basis of the outcome of these missions, and in line with the provisions of the programme, project proposals were prepared for follow-up actions, including approval by the respective PA Ministries/Departments. Targeted research and analysis continue to feature in the secretariat's work programme in the context of specific projects, and as part of the monitoring of developments in the Palestinian economy, especially the trade, finance and related services sector. At present (2001), the secretariat is implementing technical assistance projects under four broad programme clusters: trade policy, trade infrastructure, finance and development, and enterprise and investment.

UNCTAD's assistance to the Palestinian people was further intensified in response to the severe crisis that had been affecting the Palestinian economy since October 2000. General Assembly resolution on assistance to the Palestinian people (A/55/173) stressed "the need for the full engagement of the United Nations in the process of building Palestinian institutions and in providing broad assistance to the Palestinian people". It urged "the international donor community, United Nations agencies and organizations, and non-governmental organizations to extend as rapidly as possible emergency economic and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people to counter the impact of the current crisis". While maintaining its focus on longer-term development assistance, the UNCTAD secretariat has attempted to mobilize the necessary resources to respond to some urgent trade sector needs.