In 2007 The World Bank (WB) and the Government of Netherlands represented by the Netherlands Representative Office (NRO) in the WBG contributed with a grant of an amount of US$10 million and US$ 6.17 million respectively to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian LGUs.

The financed program is called the second phase of the Emergency Municipal Services Rehabilitation Project (EMSRP II) under which the beneficiaries are the municipalities in West Bank and Gaza. Both the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the German Development Bank (KFW) decided to contribute for the year 2008 by US$5.0 million and Euros 15 million respectively.

The main project objectives are to:

1) Help mitigate further deterioration in the delivery of essential municipal services, including solid waste collection, provision of water, wastewater and electricity services (where such services are provided by municipalities), and street cleaning, among other services, through rehabilitation of damaged or deteriorating infrastructure and the provision of non‐wage budgetary support for direct service cost inputs.

2) Create temporary job opportunities at the local level through the launching of labor‐intensive employment generation schemes, proportionally allocated on the basis of an unemployment index.

3) Pilot innovative initiatives that foster Local Government‐NGO collaboration in response to urgent community needs and assist municipalities in recovering costs for the provision of services.

Based on the findings of final review of the First Emergency Municipal Services Rehabilitation Project (EMSRP I) done by the World Bank (WB) and the MDLF, it was noted that the project scope was too broad, aiming at addressing over 400 localities, thus spreading too thinly limited resources while limiting the Project’s impact. The lessons learned have been incorporated into the proposed project’s design, as EMSRP II would be targeting only the 132 municipal areas, while other Bank interventions (particularly the Integrated Community Development Project) would aim to target refugee camps and smaller village councils and communities.

Rehabilitation Project (EMSRP I) done by the World Bank (WB) and the MDLF, it was noted that the project scope was too broad, aiming at addressing over 400 localities, thus spreading too thinly limited resources while limiting the Project’s impact. The lessons learned have been incorporated into the proposed project’s design, as EMSRP II would be targeting only the 132 municipal areas, while other Bank interventions (particularly the Integrated Community Development Project) would aim to target refugee camps and smaller village councils and communities.

 - EMSRP II - KFW Fund
 - EMSRP II - SIDA Fund