Unintended Consequences of Dependence on International Funding: The Case of Palestine
Presenter: Nora Lester Murad, PhD

Presentation Overview

Workshop Objectives:

• Try to answer questions you have about giving in Palestine
• Engage with you to see what (if any) of the Palestinian situation is consistent with conditions other places you work
• Enable reflection on grantmaking practices with the benefit of grantees' experiences in Palestine
• Share ideas about grantmaking practices that minimize the unintended consequences of dependence on international aid

Current Status: Humanitarian Crisis

• US aid is frozen ($400 million)
• EU withholding aid to PA ($600 million)
• Israel holding $50 million/month taxes
• Some NGO projects delayed
• Confusion, uncertainty, paralysis

Unintended Consequences of Dependence: Palestinian Perspectives

• donor-driven agendas
• organizational insecurity
• layers of bureaucracy imposed by INGO intermediary organizations and donors
• waste of organizational resources on donor relations at the expense of program work
• susceptibility to morally offensive conditions on grantees
• limited access to funding for overhead and operating expenses
• extremely limited flexibility to change program plans once approved
• procurement rules that require aid money to be spent in donors' countries rather than in support of the local Palestinian economy
• fraudulent practices
• arbitrary limits on the amount of funding available
• disadvantage to those with a lack of competence in fundraising
• destructive competition for funds
• waste of intelligence and competence
• a general sense of frustration about the extent of international interference in Palestinian development

Donor Practices that Hinder Quality Development/Humanitarian Work: INGO Perspectives

• Difficult applications & user-unfriendly proposal processes
• Rigidity about changes in the project
• Only care about financial reports
• Donor organization is not well-managed
• Incorrect or inconsistent information from frontline staff
• High turnover of desk officers
• Lack of coordination among donors
• Results driven not impact driven
• Politically, not developmentally, oriented
• Too specific an idea of what to do and how
• Grants that are too large

Resulting in...

• No one is working on root causes (occupation)
• Local NGOs lack credibility with local population
• Widespread mistrust of international community
• Short-term non-strategic approach
• De-development; impending crisis

The Special Case of the Palestinian Citizens of Israel

• "Palestinian" in donor terms does not include citizens of Israel
• Israel not eligible for "development" aid
• Israel is an "established democracy"
• Money for Palestinians in Israel is only for "dialogue" not community development

Aid to Palestine: A Selected Bibliography
Compiled by Nora Lester Murad, PhD

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Abdel-Latif, Jalal. (2000, October 28). Consultancy Report on the Governance for the Palestinian Project Management Organization.

Abu-Amr, Ziad. (1995). Civil Society and Democratic Change in Palestinian Society. Ramallah: Muwatin Press.

Al-Balawneh, Ali. (2000). "Foreign Funding: The Case of Sa'ad Al-Din Ibrahim and the Foreign Funding," Kana'an 103: 75-93.

Al-Naqib, Fadle Mustafa. (2003, June). Towards a Palestinian Developmental Vision. Ramallah: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute.

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Al-Zeben, Khalil. (1998). "The NGO's Party: A Third Alternative to the Palestinian Authority and Hamas? Al-Nashrah 13(7): 3.

Barghouti, Mustafa. (March 1999). The Palestinian NGOs and the Challenge Ahead. Ramallah. Unpublished paper.

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Brynen, Rex. (2000). A Very Political Economy: Peacebuilding and Foreign Aid in the West Bank and Gaza. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.

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Development Studies Programme, Birzeit University. (2005). Palestine Human Development Report 2004. Ramallah. (esp. Chapter 5: "Civil society organizations and human development," pp. 104-121 and Chapter 6: "Towards a Palestinian vision of development, pp. 125-138).)

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Donor Support Group, Local Aid Coordinating Committee, Physical and Institutional Damage Assessment, West Bank Governorates and Damage Assessment of 17 May 2002. Available at: www.support-group.org.

Edwards, Michael and Hulme, David. (Eds.) (1997). NGOs, States and Donors: Too Close for Comfort? New York: MacMillan Press.

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Government of Japan and the World Bank. (2000, June). Aid Effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza.

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Hampsen, Annika, and Abou Azzam, Janine. (2005, January 30). Wall Mitigation: Implications for Donors and Implementing Agencies Operating in Areas Affected by the Seperation Barrier, report to the Local Aid Coordinating Committee. Jerusalem.

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The Impact of the Palestinian Intifada on International Funding. Proceedings of a Workshop held 22 November 2000. Birzeit University Development Studies Programme.

Ismael, Tarq Y. and Ismael, Jacqueline S. (1998). "Civil Society and Democratic Transformation in the Arab World." Middle East Journal 52(3): 441-445.

Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC). (1999, March). "Foreign Aid and Development in Palestine." Phase III Report. Summary available at: http://www.jmcc.org/research/special/aid3.htm.

Ladadweh, Hassan, Mohamad, Jibril, and Azam, Jaber. (2001). The Relations Among the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations and with the Palestinian National Authority and Donors. Ramallah: Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute.

Lawry-White, Simon. (Oct. 2000). Palestinian NGO Project: Review of Grant Application Procedures and Administration. Submitted to the Welfare Association Consortium (PMO), Jerusalem.

Macrae, Joanna, et al. (2002, December). Uncertain power: The changing role of official donors in humanitarian action, HPG report 12. London: Humanitarian Policy Group.

Moghadam, Valentine M. (1995). "WID, WAD, GAD: Integration of Women, Women's Concerns and Gender Issues in the Development Process," pp. 1-30 in Birzeit University, Gender and Development.

Nabriss, Khalid and Lent, Tom. (2001, March 1). Assessment Study for Identifying Capacity Building Gaps for the NGO Sector in the West Bank and Gaza, 2nd draft field report to the Welfare Association Consortium for the Management of the Palestinian NGO Project.

Nakhleh, Khalil. (2004). The Myth of Palestinian Development. Jerusalem: PASSIA.

Nakhleh, Khalil. (1998). "A Critical Look at Foreign Funding to Palestine: Where is it Heading?" In Said, N. (Ed.). Funding Palestinian Development, pp. 23-21. Planning for Development Series, no. 22. Ramallah: Birzeit University and the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Institutional Building and Human Development Directorate.

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Palestinian Authority, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. (30 June 2001). Aid Coordination Department. MOPIC's 2001 First and Second Quarterly Monitoring Report of Donors' Assistance.

Qassoum, Mufid. (2002). "Imperial Agendas, 'Civil Society' and Global Manipulation." Between the Lines, vol. III, no. 19.

Roy, Sara. (2000). "The Transformation of Islamic NGOs in Palestine." Middle East Report, No. 214, Vol. 30, No. 1.

Samara, Adel. (1997). The World Bank, the Donors and the Panegyrysts: A Study in the Dependence and Re-education of the Palestinians. Ramallah: Al-Mashriq Al-Amil for Development and Cultural Studies.

Shadid, Mohammed K. and Qutteneh, Caroline. (Eds.) Palestinian Governmental NGO Relations. Proceedings of the International Conference held in February 2000. Welfare Association Consortium.

Shaheen, Najih. (2000). "Civil Society between Theory and Practice: The Palestinian Case." Kana'an 102: 10-44.

Sullivan, Denis. (2001). The World Bank and the Palestinian NGO Project. Jerusalem: PASSIA.

Tamari, Salim. (1999). Palestinian Social Transformations: The Emergence of Civil Society. Civil Society, 8, 86.

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Van Rooy, Alison. (Ed.) (1989). Civil Society and the Aid Industry. London: Earthscan.

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