| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| UK cracks down on Palestinian aid following three-month freeze |
| 2016-12-17 |
| [IsraelTimes] Major changes in funding announced over concerns money was being used to pay salaries for convicted Paleostinian terrorists. Britannia has made major changes in funding Paleostinians after a three-month freeze on part of its aid, over concerns that the money was being used to fund salaries for convicted Paleostinian terrorists. In October the Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, ordered a review of the funding procedure and froze about a third of Britannia’s aid to the Paleostinians while the review, undertaken in close collaboration with the Foreign Office, was carried out. This week, DIFD -- the Department for International Development -- announced that although Britannia would continue to fund the Paleostinian Authority, there would be certain crucial changes. In future, DIFD said, its aid would go "solely to vital health and education services, in order to meet the immediate needs of the Paleostinian people and maximise value for money. Funding will only go towards the salaries of health and education public servants on a vetted list". Money from the UK "will no longer be used to support the salaries of Paleostinian Authority public servants in Gazoo who have not been able to work". And Britannia "will assess fiscal and public financial management reforms that the Paleostinian Authority will need to show progress against in order to secure full future payments from the UK".DIFD says that UK support to the PA -- up to £25 million this financial year `-- will help to pay the salaries of up to 30,000 teachers, doctors, nurses, midwives and other essential health and education public servants on a vetted list. "This will enable around 25,000 young Paleostinians to get an education, provide up to 3,700 immunisations for children, and around 185,000 medical consultations annually." The payments to the PA will now be made through an EU system which is checked by independent auditors; payments are additionally checked through a strict vetting process which takes in a variety of different sanctions, including, says DIFD, "terrorism financing". |
| Posted by:trailing wife |