IMG Damage Assessment and Reconstruction Management in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

The aim of the Operation is to build on the ongoing assessment efforts; to refine them by providing detailed information on the levels of damage inflicted on villages and towns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a result of the conflict; and to prepare proposals for reconstruction of infrastructure and rebuilding of institutional capability of the PA and the municipalities.

This information will form the basis of the European Union’s, and in particular the Commission’s, repair and reconstruction efforts. Included within the damage assessment will be maps and financial cost estimates that will be made available to the EU (Commission and Member States).

As required, the Operation will also provide support to the management and monitoring of the implementation of the emergency reconstruction and capacity building to be provided.

The general objective of the Operation is to carry out a rapid damage and capability assessment, both physical (hardware) and institutional (human resources and functional capacity), and to identify precise interventions for reconstruction of infrastructure and rebuilding of institutional capability of the PA and the municipalities. This assessment and identification work will be made in close coordination with ongoing assessment exercises.

This damage assessment and the proposals for intervention will be used particularly by EU donors as the basis for funding reconstruction of municipal infrastructure, institutional buildings, social infrastructure, housing, health and educational facilities damaged by the conflict. As such, the Operation will involve the creation of a damage assessment database and donor co-ordination database that will be the basis for the reconstruction activities of the EU.

As and when required, the Operation will also provide support to the intra-EU coordination activities, as well as to the management and monitoring of the implementation of the emergency reconstruction and capability building interventions.

 * This map is just illustrative and
has no political implications whatsoever

The specific objectives of the Operation are the following:

·         to define the most appropriate methods of physical and institutional damage assessment, in close coordination with the Donor Support Group;

·         to assess the delivery capacity of municipalities and Palestinian public institutions;

·         to establish damage assessment and donor co-ordination databases;

·         to identify interventions and prepare proposals for EU/EC financing, based on identification of priority areas and sectors.

·         for each intervention, to recommend the most appropriate funding and monitoring mechanisms to be used, according to the delivery capacity of concerned institutions;

·         to monitor reconstruction projects and assist municipalities/Palestinian institutions for project management at request.