This is the final part of EU assistance to the Palestinian people in 2013 from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), bringing the total amount contributed from this instrument this year to €300 million.

The High Representative Catherine Ashton said: ”I am pleased to announce this assistance package to support Palestinian economic development on the day that the Palestinian Prime Minister Hamdallah is here in Brussels. The ultimate objective of the EU’s financial assistance remains the establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security. Today we also discussed the difficult financial situation of the Palestinian Authority and the expectations for the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) due to take place at the margins of UN General Assembly in New York.”

The High Representative and the Prime Minister also followed up on their discussions held in June during the High Representative’s visit to the Middle East. They talked about the deepening bilateral relations between the European Union and Palestine. The High Representative confirmed the EU’s support for the Palestinian state-building process and stressed the need for a strong and stable Palestinian government committed to reform and the rule of law. In the talks today, Catherine Ashton also expressed full support of the European Union for the ongoing Middle East peace talks.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, said: “We have to look beyond immediate financial help to the Palestinian Authority to provide longer-term sustainable support. We will also continue to support the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem to help ensure their access to services in East Jerusalem.”

The new financial assistance package has the following components:

• Governance: this funding aims to support governance in Palestine by helping municipalities investing in small infrastructure projects and improving management practices for better service delivery and by strengthening the efficiency of the PEGASE Mechanism (an instrument to channel EU and international assistance as a contribution to the building of the Palestinian State). Total value: €13 million.

• Support to the Private Sector: in order to promote sustainable, private sector-led social and economic development. The EU and PA recognise that only a dynamic and growing private sector will be able to create the jobs necessary to face the growing Palestinian population and gradually reduce the public wage bill, while generating the revenues required to fund essential public services. Total value: €11 million.

• Nablus East Water Treatment Plant: By helping to build the new plant, this project will contribute to the protection of water resources in the region and significantly reduce health risks caused by inadequately treated wastewater released in the environment, as well as allowing the re-use of treated wastewater. Total value: €20 million.

• Support to the Delivery of Community Services in East Jerusalem: for a number of years we have provided significant funds to deliver on the EU commitment to maintaining sustainable development, the dignity and welfare of East Jerusalem communities, in order to consolidate the possibility of reaching a future political agreement of the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states.

The actions will focus in particular on improving the living conditions of the Palestinian population living in East Jerusalem, through the protection of rights of vulnerable women and girls and to enhance women’s local employment opportunities.

Specific actions will support the development of the private sector in East Jerusalem, seek to improve living conditions of Palestinian families in the Old City as well as improving quality care and patient safety in East Jerusalem hospitals. These investments complement the €13 million of direct financial support provided to the East Jerusalem hospitals adopted earlier this year and channelled through a new window of the PEGASE mechanism which is now open to all donors. Total value: €8 million.

“The humanitarian situation in Aleppo is desperate,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt, who visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, last week. “Our goal is to reach children who most need our assistance, no matter where they are.”

The delivery, carried out by UNICEF, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other UN agencies, consisted of a 15-truck convoy that travelled from Damascus to Aleppo. UNICEF’s supplies included diarrhoeal disease kits to treat 30,000 people, medical kits for 20,000 people, 2,000 family hygiene kits, cooking stoves, high energy biscuits and school supplies.

UNICEF also delivered five generators and eight water tanks that will provide safe drinking water to more than 1 million people in Aleppo. The installation of these generators has already begun, the agency said in a news release.

Aleppo, which has been difficult to access due to insecurity and fighting, has the highest number of affected people in the country – at least 2.4 million people. According to UNICEF, half of these are children.

“Humanitarian needs, especially for food, water and shelter, are very severe,” said Ahmedou Bahah, who accompanied the convoy as head of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme in Syria.

According to UNICEF, living conditions, especially in the worst affected areas, have become deplorable. Prices have tripled or quadrupled, and families are struggling to provide their children with basic supplies including bread, vegetables and fruits, milk, yogurt and eggs.

Since the beginning of the year, UNICEF has participated in 20 UN convoys, 15 of which were to areas controlled by opposition groups. Through these and other missions, UNICEF and its partners have provided 10 million people with access to safe drinking water, vaccinated 1.5 million children, enrolled more than 300,000 children in schools and supported more than 450 school clubs where children receive the support needed to overcome some of the horrors they have witnessed.

Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced. In addition, at least 6.8 million Syrian require urgent humanitarian assistance.

“The cash allows refugees to have more control in diversifying their diets, and they can buy milk, vegetables or pasta directly from the local market,” said Abdou Dieng, Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia.

Refugees at Sheddar, located outside of Jijiga, the regional capital of the Somali area of Ethiopia, are now receiving a monthly ration of 13.9 kilograms of food – including wheat, rice, pulses, corn-soya blend, oil, sugar and salt – as well as a cash allocation of 100 Ethiopian Birr or the equivalent of $5 per person.

An additional 13,000 refugees will start to receive cash in the same region in October. The moves are part of a pilot initiative that will last until December.

The pilot project is part of an “excellent partnership”, Mr. Dieng said, between WFP, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Government of Ethiopia represented by the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and the donor, European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) which provided a contribution of $1.3 million.

Ethiopia, along with Kenya and Yemen, host most of the 1 million Somali refugees, who, along with some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), are bearing the brunt of the factional fighting in the country since 1991.

During a visit to Mogadishu last week, John Ging, Director of Operations in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that despite gradual improvements in the humanitarian situation in Somalia, the needs remain immense and urged greater investment to break the cycle of crisis in the Horn of Africa nation.

A UN-led convoy is currently moving to areas beyond Government control in Kachin, the spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jens Laerke, told reporters in Geneva.

The convoy is carrying life-saving items to some 5,100 displaced people in camps along its route between Maija Yang town and Bhamo. The items include food, special nutrients for children, household kits, hygiene kits and sanitation supplies such as water tabs.

Since June 2011, fighting between the Kachin Independence Organization and the Government of Myanmar has forced an estimated 100,000 people from their homes. An estimated 60,000 of those displaced are living in areas beyond the Government’s control. OCHA said it hopes this is the first of many convoys to those areas.

“The cross-line convoy represents a positive step forward by the Government to help all people in need across Kachin State,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ashok Nigam.

Previously, the agency had been unable to reach these people because of lack of access but also because of a shortage in funding – $ 50.9 million had been requested, of which only $ 4.2 million had been received.

On Saturday, blankets, mattresses and household items supplied by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were distributed to 200 families displaced from the suburb of Al Wa’er to Homs. Yesterday, a UNHCR truck carrying relief items for 10,000 people arrived in Al Wa’er itself.

UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva that Al Wa’er is home to an estimated 400,000 people, half of whom have been displaced from other areas of Homs governorate – mainly Baba Amer and the old city of Homs.

“Heavy clashes between Government and opposition forces in Al Wa’er broke out on May 16th and were interrupted by a two-day lull that started on Saturday,” he stated. “Conflict has since resumed. In the course of the recent fighting, at least five buildings hosting hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been seriously damaged.”

Edwards said that in one, Alarabaeen Tower, seven members of a single family were killed during mortar attacks. At least seven other people were killed in separate incidents, and UNHCR knows of 32 people having been injured.

The fighting has displaced around 5,000 people, with 250 families having fled to other parts of the city of Homs, where they are staying with relatives. Many of these people have been displaced multiple times. Other displaced people crossed into Lebanon last week.

In addition to trying to deliver additional humanitarian relief to the affected population in and around Al Wa’er, UNHCR is also prepositioning relief items in other areas of Homs itself as a contingency measure for the area.

“UNHCR once again calls on all parties to safeguard the safety and security of the civilian population affected by the conflict. We also reiterate our call for all parties to the conflict to guarantee unhindered access for all humanitarian actors, UNHCR included,” said Edwards.

Since March 2011, fighting between the Syrian Government and opposition forces seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad has killed more than 70,000 people, and left 6.8 million people in need. In addition, the UN estimates that some 1.5 million Syrians have fled their country to escape conflict.

UNHCR continues to be concerned about reported impediments in the way of people seeking to cross borders as refugees. Andrew Harper, the UN representative in Jordan, reported today that some 230 refugees had arrived at Za’atari camp on Monday, with similar numbers at the weekend.

However, crossings are still significantly down from the levels of two weeks ago, according to the agency, which added that recent problems with border crossings have also been reported along the Syria-Iraq border.

Edwards stressed that it remains essential that civilians seeking to flee insecurity, whether they are IDPs or refugees, have safe passage to areas that are outside of harm’s way.

Citing the escalating bloodshed and suffering in Syria, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, yesterday urged the international community to put an end to what has become “an intolerable affront to the human conscience.”

Addressing the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Ms. Pillay emphasized that countries cannot continue to ignore the plea of civilians who are in dire need of protection and assistance.

“A humanitarian, political and social disaster is already upon us, and what looms is truly a nightmare,” she said. “Civilians bear the brunt of this crisis in which human rights violations have reached horrific dimensions. Confronted with the flagrant disregard of international law and human life on every side, I feel utter dismay.”

The Council is scheduled to discuss the situation in Syria tomorrow and consider a related draft resolution.

The first round of distributions consisted of two-month food rations for about 12,000 people in Geissan and 39,000 in Kurmuk, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced yesterday.

It plans to reach people in six localities before the rainy season begins in May but it still needs some $20 million to secure 17,000 metric tons of food for the response.

In what it called a “major breakthrough,” WFP last week announced that the first UN food rations reached conflict-affected people in Blue Nile state since 2011, when the isolated rural area near the South Sudan border was cut off by insecurity and movement restrictions imposed by the Government.

“While we continue to strive for access to all areas, this is still a major breakthrough which will enable us to assist those who continue to be displaced by the conflict or those who have decided to return to their homes and are in dire need of food assistance,” WFP Country Director Adnan Khan said at the time.

Fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) broke out in the state after neighbouring South Sudan seceded under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a decades-long civil war. The fighting in Blue Nile displaced and then isolated tens of thousands of people.

However, Egypt on Sunday rejected any suggestion of applying for an emergency IMF funding to help it as it struggles an economic and currency crisis.

The funding, known as the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument, would is short-term and would not replace Egypt’s negotiations with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan, the source said, according to Reuters.

The RFI provides rapid and low-access financial assistance to member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need, without the need for a full-fledged program. It can provide support to meet a broad range of urgent needs, including those arising from commodity price shocks, natural disasters, post-conflict situations and emergencies resulting from fragility, according to the institution.

The RFI was created as part of a broader reform to make the IMF’s financial support more flexible to address the diverse needs of member countries.

“Egypt needs bold and ambitious policy actions to address its economic and financial challenges without further delay,” IMF spokeswoman Wafa Amr said on Monday.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have fallen to critically low levels and a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund was delayed by the political unrest that has gripped the country.

Meanwhile, Qatar does not expect to give further financial aid to Egypt in the immediate term, Qatari Finance Minister Youssef Kamal told Reuters on Monday.

Qatar has been a key source of foreign aid to Egypt since its 2011 revolution.

“We already announced $5bn,” Kamal told the news service, when asked how much aid Qatar had provided Egypt to date.

A few weeks earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday rewarded Egypt for President Mohammed Morsi’s pledges of political and economic reforms by releasing $250 million in American aid to support the country.

In an interview with the UN News Centre, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), Filippo Grandi, warned that providing access and resources to the 500,000 Palestinian refugees trapped in Syria were among the “most urgent” priorities but could only be achieved with appropriate financing from the international community.

“This is very urgent and important for all of us on the ground,” Mr. Grandi said, adding that it was also incumbent on the international community and the Security Council “to find agreement on how to put an end to this violence.”

“Otherwise,” he added, “the suffering will skyrocket and with it the enormous needs of these populations in distress.”

As the fighting in Syria continues to escalate, the Palestinian refugee population there has come under increasing threat. Twelve Palestinian refugees were killed by heavy weaponry on 7 February in the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk; five of them were members of the same family.

Following that incident, UNRWA cautioned that the Palestinian refugees were unable to move around safely and faced severe restrictions on movement owing to escalating threats from shelling and armed clashes, exacerbating vulnerabilities that existed prior to the Syrian conflict.

One constant that UNRWA has encountered since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began over 22 months ago has been the slow trickle of funding needed to prop up the on-the-ground relief efforts, particularly as the Agency’s tasks have shifted from developmental assistance to more immediate emergency aid.

According to statistics released by UNRWA earlier this year, most of the Palestinian refugees in Syria now rely on the Agency as their sole means of support. Several UNRWA schools in the country are currently acting as a last place of refuge for 9,000 people, while tens of thousands languish under harsh conditions in neighbouring countries. Moreover, some 20,000 people have fled to the over-crowded refugee camps of Lebanon.

Mr. Grandi noted that out of the $1.5 billion UN-wide humanitarian appeal put out in January, $90 million were, in fact, destined for UNRWA’s relief efforts over the next six months. Nevertheless, he cautioned that more funding would be needed in order to maintain crucial humanitarian assistance work.

With jobs steadily disappearing across Syria and food becoming increasingly scarce, UNRWA’s role in assisting the Palestinians trapped in Syria has slowly evolved from providing regular services – ranging from education to health needs – to bringing emergency services to a population trapped by a destructive and overwhelming conflict.

As a result, the UNRWA chief pointed out that regular services were now being substituted with emergency ones such as distributing cash, food supplies, and medical aid to the beleaguered refugee population.

He further noted that, unlike Syrian nationals, Palestinians had so-called “limited flight options” as neighbouring countries, such as Jordan, had capped their admittance numbers to the Palestinian refugee population.

“The challenges are to continue to provide the services that we provide to the half a million plus people – keep schools open, keep health centers running, keep assistance to the poor going,” he continued.

“That’s an increasing challenge in a situation of growing insecurity, lack of access, and other problems that affect everybody’s humanitarian action in Syria.”

“A 10-vehicle convoy brought relief items for 400 displaced families, equivalent to some 2,000 individuals,” a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards, told journalists today in Geneva.

The team, including UNCHR, World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), travelled between 17 and 21 February to Hpakant area, west of the Kachin state capital.

The inter-agency visit was the first to the area since January 2012 in which UN staff were able to reach internally displaced people. Edwards said the visit was made possible after access was granted by the Myanmar Government.

The team distributed tarpaulins for shelter, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking sets, clothes and sanitary items.

It also assessed living conditions in 17 camps in Hpakant housing more than 6,000 internally displaced persons.

Aid workers said the communal shelters were overcrowded and lacked privacy, leading to tensions and potential security issues. They also noted a need for improved water and sanitation facilities, as well as more health-care services and improvements to camp infrastructure.

Some 75,000 people have fled their homes in Kachin since fighting began in June 2011 between Government troops and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). The fighting intensified in September and December last year, before authorities in Myanmar announced a unilateral ceasefire in January.

The UN had said it remained committed to helping and supporting the people of Myanmar, including through its good offices and through humanitarian aid and development.

Over the coming weeks UNHCR plans to return to Hpakant to distribute supplies for another 1,000 displaced families that have yet to receive any assistance, Edwards said.

“The people of Mali have suffered appallingly. Now is the time for us to help,” John Ging, Director of Operations for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told correspondents in New York.

The latest humanitarian appeal for Mali seeks $373 million, including $153 million for the most urgent interventions in the next six months. However, only $17 million has been received so far, Mr. Ging said.

He stressed that security and humanitarian access had improved, which should erase doubts that aid would be effective at this point, including the necessary development aid that could restore people’s ability to support themselves.

“We are there, faced very directly with the immediate needs, with the urgency,” he said, adding, “Not only is the need there, but also the very real opportunity to turn things around.”

Northern Mali was occupied by radical Islamists after fighting broke out in January 2012 between Government forces and Tuareg rebels. The conflict prompted the Malian Government to request assistance from France to stop the military advance of extremist groups.

Mr. Ging said that since the conflict began in January 2012, more than 430,000 people have been displaced – more than 260,000 internally and more than 170,000 having fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.

In addition to disrupting the lives of those who fled, this has left health clinics short of doctors, schools without teachers and electricity plants without engineers, he said.

During his four-day visit, during which he visited the historic city of Timbuktu and the central town of Mopti in the north, Mr. Ging said community representatives emphasized to him that they did not want to become dependent on international aid but were seeking basic support.

“These are dignified people who are not asking for much,” said Mr. Ging, specifying that, in the North, people wanted security, schooling for their children, health services, reopened markets and to be able to sow their crops on time.

Conveying his impression that much of the population was traumatized by events of the past year, as well as reports of rape and brutalities against children, he said that education seemed to be a huge priority for most people.

“This is the issue that energized and caused the most animation in everybody we met,” he said, pointing out that 700,000 children were affected by the crisis and that 200,000 had not had any schooling in the past year.

Describing his visits to two hospitals, he confirmed shortages of supplies and services. He also said that restoration of livelihoods was a priority as Mali suffered from the long-term food and nutritional crisis that was afflicting much of the Sahel region of Africa, with 585,000 people in need of immediate food assistance and a million more at risk.

He said that most people were preoccupied with restoring their ability to feed themselves and that development assistance was critical for that purpose. “Their preoccupation must become our preoccupation,” he stressed.

Also yesterday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed for $45 million in urgent funding to address the basic needs of women and children affected by the crisis, for the next three months, underlining the vulnerability of those two parts of the population.

“There have been instances of recruitment of children by armed groups, threats from unexploded ordnance, gender-based violence and a heavy impact on the education provision for this generation of children,” the agency said in a press release.

“Without funding, UNICEF will be unable to continue its support to life-saving interventions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host families and communities, as well as refugees,” it said.