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OFID extends grant to UNRoD to protect legal rights of Palestinians affected by the wall

Mr Vladimir Goryayev, Executive Director of UNRoD and OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J Al-Herbish.

Vienna, Austria, September 22, 2015. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has extended a US$300,000 grant to the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNRoD). The grant will help UNRoD to further protect the legal rights of Palestinians affected by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and to determine the outcome of key final status critical matters such as territory, borders and the status of East Jerusalem.

The agreement was signed by OFID Director-General Mr Suleiman J Al-Herbish and Mr Vladimir Goryayev, Executive Director of UNRoD.

At the signing ceremony, Mr Al-Herbish spoke of his experience when he visited one of the camps during his mission to Palestine in 2014, when he saw parts of the wall separating the camp from the rest of the city. “The wall has affected Palestinians’ workplaces, farmland and essential services, in addition to having negative environmental consequences,” said the Director-General.

Al-Herbish reiterated OFID’s continued support to UNRoD, noting with satisfaction that, with the signing of this grant agreement, OFID had become fourth in the donors supporting the organization’s activities, with a cumulative contribution of US$650,000. He also pointed that while the amount of OFID’s grants to the people of Palestinians may be considered modest by some, it had made a tremendous difference in positively affecting the lives of thousands of Palestinians.

In his remarks, Goryayev emphasized UNRoD's mandate and highlighted that to date UNRoD had successfully implemented the collection of more than 50,000 claims and over 800,000 supporting documents in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Goryayev also said that UNRoD would never forget when OFID came at a very critical time to offer its support some years ago when UNRoD had encountered problems in financing its operations on the ground.