United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

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UN OCHA oPt Humanitarian Fund

UN Humanitarian Aid Clusters

  • As part of its “Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP),” OCHA organizes “Thematic Clusters” including Protection, Education, Shelter, Health and Nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene), and the Food Security Sector (FSS). Within each cluster, NGOs serve as implementing partners with UN agencies, and in some cases, are responsible for leading the cluster.
  • In practice, the cluster system is a key international lobbying and action mechanism through which the PA advances its nationalist and political agenda, sustaining conflict.
  • As part of the 2023 HRP, NGOs received $152.2 million (out of a requested $502.3 million) in government-provided humanitarian aid within the different clusters.
  • Numerous NGOs that receive funding under the HRP support BDS and other overtly political campaigns against Israel, and several have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.

Clusters

Advocacy within Humanitarian Clusters

  • Within the Protection Cluster, UNICEF-oPt heads the “Working Group on Grave Violations against Children” to monitor and report on alleged instances of grave violations against Palestinian children. The Working Group includes organizations that have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group and/or are prominent actors in anti-Israel BDS and lawfare campaigns. 
    • UNICEF and the NGO members of the Working Group are active in a coordinated attempt to place Israel on a blacklist of “grave” violators of children’s rights, alongside ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda. The list appears as an annex to the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). (For more information, see NGO Monitor’s report “UNICEF and its NGO Working Group: Failing Children.”)
  • On March 21, 2017 and March 29, 2017, in meetings held at the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza City and Ramallah, the Food Security Sector (FSS), along with representatives from international and Palestinian NGOs, were urged by its partner Action Against Hunger (ACF) to participate in an advocacy “hashtag” campaign to mark “50 Years of Israeli Occupation,” using #thisisoccupation and #endtheoccupation.
  • Connie Martinez-Varela Pedersen is the current Cluster Coordinator for the Protection Cluster and a Human Rights Officer at OHCHR. Pedersen previously worked as the director of international advocacy for the politicized Israeli NGO Yesh Din.
  • In 2017, the Food Security Sector (FSS) stated that it would “conduct Bilateral meetings (lobby trip, Consulate, Embassy), hearing at the European Parliament and other international fora.” FSS also stated that it would focus on sending “clear messages about the illegality of the following”:
    • “Israeli settlements, hence settler violence are illegal under IHL”
    • “Stop settlements expansion”
    • “Stop the forcible transfer of Palestinian Bedouins and herders with its negative consequences on their livelihoods.”
  • In August 2014, the Protection Cluster relied on B’TselemAl Mezan, and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) for reporting on Palestinian casualties in Gaza during the 2014 Gaza war. Most, if not all, claims were based upon those of the Hamas Ministry of Health.
    • Former and current senior PCHR officials have ties to the PFLP.
  • Since 2013, under the “oPt Education Cluster,” UNICEF has partnered with Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) in providing “protective presence” to Palestinian children going to and from school.
    • EAPPI brings volunteers to the West Bank for three months to “witness life under occupation.” Upon completion of the program, the volunteers return to their home countries and churches where many engage in anti-Israel advocacy, including advocating for BDS campaigns in churches, comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany, and other delegitimization strategies.
    • EAPPI also participates in the UN’s Protection Cluster Working Group (PCWG) and the Settler Violence Core Group (SVCG). EAPPI’s role in these groups is “ongoing submission[s] of incident reports to the SVCG, UN agencies and other relevant actors. Participation in meetings of the Silwan Task Force/East Jerusalem Task force and AIDA, and the Education Cluster.” EAPPI volunteers “monitor for human rights violations and do a lot of administrative work which is fed into UN systems” (emphasis added).

2019-2023 Funding Received by Cluster

Cluster20232022202120202019
Protection$10,798,287$10,254,404$24,088,807$40,976,958$23,415,540
Education$5,332,537$4,083,293`$25,432,732$8,431,172$6,360,351
Shelter/NFI (Non Food Item)$4,087,219$7,644,579$15,975,086$4,892,118$23,415,540
Health and Nutrition$14,479,886$6,258,356$45,756,609$46,654,706$19,808,878
WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene)$3,555,465$13,283,682$14,260,608$14,930,602$20,474,650
Food Security Sector (FSS)$82,672,551$46,316,779$220,049,875$126,664,789$138,757,797
Coordination and Support Services$9,570,721$7,298,363$8,171,238$3,652,787$3,706,809
Total NGO Funding$130,496,666$95,500,071$472,356,238$253,659,523$239,582,476

UN OCHA oPt –HF Funding to NGOs (amounts based on the UN’s Financial Tracking Service)

(* = PFLP linked NGO)

NGOProjectYear/sAmount
Medical Aid for PalestiniansStrengthen the healthcare system’s capacity to respond to emergencies and build community resilience to cope with the impact of current and future crises2023$435,000
Provision of life saving preposition trauma and emergency supplies2023$565,000
Addressing the urgent needs of the MoH to support the COVID 19 response plan in Gaza2020$500,551
Ma’an Development CenterBuilding Resilience of Vulnerable Families Addressing the Shelter-Related Vulnerabilities2023$254,021
Humanitarian Response to Improve Access to Water and Sewer Services for the Unserved Communities2023$450,000
WASH assistance and flood mitigation for vulnerable families and schools across Area C and the H2 area of Hebron, West Bank2022$349,680
WASH assistance and flood mitigation for vulnerable families and schools across Area C and the H2 area of Hebron, West Bank2022$374,817
Emergency Shelter Assistance for IDP Families in the Gaza Strip 2021$698,181
Emergency Supplies of NFIs for the Vulnerable People at Higher Risk of COVID192020$325,006
Emergency Repair of Essential WASH Facilities in the Gaza Strip$231,505
Save the ChildrenEmergency quality education support to conflict affected schools and students2022$300,000
Ensuring Access to Quality and Inclusive Education for Vulnerable Children2022$199,999
Access to Safe and Inclusive Education through Providing Rehabilitation Services for Governmental schools in 3 Governorates of Gaza Strip2021$315,514
Urgent Food E-Voucher support for the War-affected most vulnerable families in Gaza strip 2021$438,378
Enhanced quality of life for communities at risk of flooding in Jabalia2020$364,999
Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)Providing comprehensive PHC services for affected population in Gaza strip2021$496,944
Improving access to adequate health and nutritional care services for children under five and women in Access restricted areas of Gaza Strip.2020$501,502
Mobile outreach providing accessible and equitable primary healthcare to H2 via mobile outreach and community building capacity building.$195,700
OxfamWASH Emergency Response and support for affected vulnerable population in the Gaza Strip2021$257,000
Urgent Cash Support for Affected Farmers in Gaza and North Gaza.$651,614
WASH Emergency Response and support for affected vulnerable population in the Gaza Strip$90,000
Oxfam NovibFood assistance for under-served food insecure households 2023$316,703
Strengthening resilience and improving economic opportunities of vulnerable groups and communities in Gaza and the Jordan Valley2022$380,000
Emergency Livelihood Support to Affected Farmers2021$535,303
Livelihood restoration and protection for Area C vulnerable farmers2020$300,000
Food Assistance to Vulnerable HHs in the Gaza and North Governorates$462,315
Rehabilitation of destroyed and deteriorated public WASH facilities located in vulnerable and undeserved communities in the Gaza Strip$414,467
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)Providing Adequate, Sufficient and Affordable Drinking Water2023$434,086
Enhancing farmers' resilience through Improving food security for most vulnerable households2023$483,147
Supporting farmers' resilience by improving agricultural inputs2022$301,644
Enhance Farmers' resilience through Improving food security for most vulnerable Households2022$545,764
Immediate Support for Small Scale Farmers Affected by May 2021 Escalation of Hostilities in the Gaza Strip 2021$301,247
Enhance Farmers' resilience through Improving food security for most vulnerable Households in Jordan Valley2020$149,995
Women’s Affairs CenterImproving access to safe, inclusive and coordinated multi-sectoral GBV services for most vulnerable women and girls GBV survivors including with disabilities and cancer patients2023$319,908
Improving accessibility to dignified and safe multi-sectoral protection and prevention services for acutely vulnerable women and girls survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in high priority areas in the Gaza Strip2021$327,292
Protection of Most Vulnerable Women and Girls including GBV Survivors with Disabilities, Chronically Ill, and Women With Breast Cancer Through Coordinated and Multisectoral Specialized Responses.2020$200,000
Union of Health Work Committees*Providing elective surgeries to patients registered on the waiting list at the Ministry of Health – Gaza Strip - OPT2020$504,270
Protection response mechanisms are in place to prevent and mitigate the effects of GBV on women and girls in Easter area of Khanyounis – Southern Gaza Strip$200,047
Gaza Community Mental Health ProgrammeEnhancing the availability and accessibility of mental health services to boys, girls, men and women in vulnerable communities, and integrate MHPSS services into healthcare service delivery20232023
Provision of Specialized Mental Health Services to Boys, Girls, Women And Men with and without Disabilities who Affected by the Ongoing Crises In The Gaza Strip2021$401,247
Provision of Specialized Mental Health and Free Telephone Counseling (Hotline) Services to Women, Men, Boys and Girls Affected by Violence in the Gaza Strip. 2020$274,449
Health Work Committees*Increase Access to Essential Health Services for Marginalized Communities in Hebron H22020$305,054
Norwegian Refugee CouncilAdequate Shelter Solutions for vulnerable households at immediate risk of eviction2023$400,000
Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian Territory2023$200,000
Provision of remedial education and learning support to vulnerable school aged children 2022$300,000
Immediate shelter solutions to the conflict-affected people in North Gaza Strip2021$540,000
Addressing the emotional and learning needs of the most affected children in East and North Gaza$360,000
First Standard Allocation 20202020$349,999
Islamic Relief WorldwideUrgent food assistance for the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19 lockdown in Gaza Strip2020$353,503
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)*Advocacy, monitoring and documentation of HR and IHL violations and related trends in the Gaza Strip and West Bank2021$194,255
Terre des HommesProvision of multi-sectorial services to vulnerable children and their families affected by May's escalation2021$119,032
Lutheran World FederationSupport to Augusta Victoria Hospital and 2022 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) in oPt2022$499,996
Union of Agricultural Work Committee (UAWC)Emergency support for affected vulnerable farmers through the rehabilitation of their agricultural facilities2023$351,730
NGO Development CenterEnhancing vulnerable farmers access to essential lifesaving basic services through cash support and assistance for agriculture workers through CfW modality2023$394,527

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