Palestine Living Conditions Surveys

The main objective of the project is to provide reliable data on Palestinian's perceptions attitudes and views concerning the evolution of the socio-economic living conditions of the civilian population of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and concerning the services delivered to them by the various stakeholders such as the Palestinian National Authority, UN organisations, bilateral co-operation agencies as well as local and international NGOs.

During the period 2000-2003 the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has funded six monitoring surveys that were partially co-financed by UNDP, UNRWA, UNICEF and WFP. The UN Agencies, the EC, and the World Bank have broadly used the results of these surveys, as well as our NGO partners and were quoted in several reports by these organisations.

 

During 2004 and 2005 the project will monitor the development/humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through regular public opinion polls and the provision of reliable data on the socio economic situation of the Palestinian people.

The polls are conducted in cooperation with the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC) a local NGO, which will physically carry out the monitoring polls in Gaza and West Bank and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) which give the PRU access to its socio economic raw data and render technical advise.

The survey’s reports are an attempt to enhance the planning activities of various stakeholders such as the PA, UN agencies, IBRD, and NGOs at the same time raising general awareness on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The project assists SDC qualitatively in the overall development and humanitarian aid policy dialogue for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and transversally on the policy dialogue with all project partners. Due to these monitoring surveys, the SDC as a relatively small donor was asked by the IBRD and the EC to participate in various informal and formal fora of the international aid co-ordination to contribute to the policy discussions on poverty alleviation, development and humanitarian aid for Gaza and West Bank.