ACTED has been present in the West Bank since 2007 and in Gaza since 2008, with offices in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza. The NGO supports vulnerable populations whose living conditions have deteriorated in recent years by addressing their urgent needs, supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction of homes and agricultural asset, and, beyond emergency and recovery programming, by carrying out innovative initiatives to strengthen populations’ capacities in the areas of digital technologies, tourism and social entrepreneurship.
Mission context
Humanitarian needs and development challenges in the occupied Palestinian Territory remain driven by the stalled peace process, which impacts all aspects of daily life. In Gaza, living conditions have increasingly deteriorated due to the last three conflicts and the recent energy crisis, which puts the local economy at risk. Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure remains the most pressing need, and Gaza could become uninhabitable by 2020 if major vulnerabilities remain unaddressed.
Amidst the withdrawal of funding for key humanitarian actors such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), conditions in the region worsened; an estimated 2.5 million Palestinians remain in need of humanitarian assistance. ACTED delivered emergency assistance focusing on vital shelter, livelihoods and water and sanitation support.
ACTED in occupied Palestinian Territory
ACTED provides emergency support to vulnerable households in rural communities, especially to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, as well as in Areas C of the West Bank. Similar to the residents of Gaza, Palestinian families living in Area C face heavy constraints on freedom of movement, urban and rural planning and construction, and access to basic services including water and electricity. Populations living within Area C are also particularly affected by displacement. In order to ensure these populations are able to maintain physical ownership of their land, ACTED provides emergency shelter (tent or shelter kit), transitional shelter (caravans), permanent shelter (flat construction/rehabilitation/ upgrade, or cash for rent (cash is transferred to beneficiaries who then pay their rent). Through these interventions ACTED has provided shelter assistance and protection to an estimated 3,000 individuals facing possible displacement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
ACTED oPT 2017 © Wissam Sameer Mahmoud Nassar
A woman harvesting her peas field. She started to cultivate her land again for the first time since the conflict in Gaza in 2014, after receiving rehabilitation support and agricultural inputs from ACTED and local partner ACAD - ACTED oPT 2017 © Wissam Sameer Mahmoud Nassar
Tens of thousands of families in Gaza live in houses which don't meet basic shelter standards and can pose safety risks for occupants. ACTED is working hard to renovate such shelters.
For communities internally displaced within the often arid Area C of the West Bank, NGOs like ACTED have to work fast to reconnect such communities with a clean and safe water supply.
In Gaza, ACTED is particularly active in agriculture, especially important given the high population and scarcity of available farming land.
ACTED staff follow up to monitor ongoing shelter renovations in Gaza.
Supporting livelihoods and economic development in Palestinian communities
ACTED programming has also focused on the economic empowerment of youth in both the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. To mitigate against the limited employment opportunities available to young Palestinians, ACTED launched a project to help them strengthen and expand upon their digital skills as a route to professional growth. This is done through improving access to online education and training with the aim to increase employability in the IT sector.
This is particularly relevant in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in which the private digital sector flourishes despite the multiple constraints placed on residents due to the political context.
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