BRUSSELS, September 20, 2016 (WAFA) – The European Union (EU) announced on Monday a new €38.6 million assistance package to benefit the Palestinian people, according to an EU press release.

This EU assistance will boost socio-economic development in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank and help tackling drinking water scarcity in Gaza, it said.

The package is the second part of the EU‘s 2016 annual support bringing total EU support this year to Palestine to over €291 million.

A total of €8.1 million in the package will go to strengthening governance of the Palestinian Authority to improve its democratic outlook in view of preparing Palestinian institutions for the two-state solution by meeting its obligations as party of seven core United Nations human rights treaties.

It will also help the Palestinian Authority operating penitentiary and judicial facilities in full compliance with international standards and will help carrying out a general population, housing, and establishment census in 2017.

Another €20 million will go to improving access to natural resources, water and land, and to enhance competiveness and market access for Palestinian agribusinesses.

The assistance also included €10.5 million to support “Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem in line with EU‘s position considering Jerusalem as the future capital of the two states,” said the press release.

It is supposed to support community based projects through grants to civil society organizations and to focus on private sector development, urban planning, protection of socio-economic rights and cultural identity and heritage with tourism-related potential.

M.A.