Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is an honor and pleasure for me, on behalf of the State of Palestine, to participate in this event today on the occasion of the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation. I wish to take this opportunity to join other delegations in highlighting and commending the important and very positive developmental impact of the India, Brazil and South Africa – IBSA – Fund in my country.
The IBSA Fund should be lauded as an innovative, multilateral initiative that embodies the true spirit, principles and objective of South-South cooperation. As one of the beneficiaries of the IBSA Fund, Palestine expresses its deep appreciation for the development assistance extended to the Palestinian people by the Fund since the pledges made in 2007 in the context of the “Paris Conference on Assistance to the Palestinian People” and for the projects that have been implemented in this regard, all of which have responded to specific needs by our population.
Here, I wish to briefly highlight three projects that have been undertaken to date by the IBSA Fund in Palestine, in cooperation with relevant Government Ministries and institutions.
The first project is the reconstruction of the Palestine Red Crescent Cultural and Hospital Center in the Gaza Strip, which had suffered extensive damage as a result of military aggressions against Gaza and also as a result of deterioration of structure for lack of repair. With the generous support of the IBSA Fund, that hospital, which provides urgent and daily health-care services to a large community in Gaza, has been rehabilitated and is now fully operational.
The second project has been the building of a center to serve individuals with severe intellectual disabilities in the city of Nablus. We are grateful for the support for this project, which will address the unmet needs of adult persons with disabilities by providing them with learning opportunities, including vocational training, rehabilitation, technical aids, care and other services with a view to enhancing their well-being, their quality of life, including potential livelihoods, and their engagement and integration in their community and society. We convey our sincere gratitude to the IBSA Fund for its support of this project, which is currently being implemented in conjunction with Palestine’s Ministry for Social Affairs.
The third project is the construction of a multi-purpose sports complex in the city of Ramallah, a project undertaken in cooperation with the UNDP and the Ramallah Municipality. This project has been met with great enthusiasm by the community, particularly youth and families, for the recreational outlets it offers to the Palestinian residents of Ramallah and surrounding villages in various sporting activities, including soccer, fencing, gymnastics, tennis and volleyball, and for the potential of the venue to host future local sports events and competitions.
Before concluding, on behalf of the State of Palestine, I wish to affirm our sincerest gratitude to the Governments and peoples of India, Brazil and South Africa for their longstanding solidarity with the Palestinian people and for their principled political, humanitarian, financial and moral support for the just cause of Palestine until the achievement of the inalienable human rights and legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinian people and a just and lasting peace. Of course, this includes the generous support extended for development via the IBSA Fund. We are very proud to be a partner and beneficiary of such South-South cooperation and we look forward to the continuation of this important framework of cooperation for development, particularly as we, along with our partners in the international community, particularly in the Group of 77 and China, look towards the post-2015 development agenda and the strides we seek to make in this regard for the benefit of our peoples and the global community as a whole.
I thank you.
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