Video Player is loading.
Advertisement
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
        Palestine Report UNCTAD – 12 September 2024
        /
        3:37
        /
        MP4
        /
        419.2 MB
        Transcripts
        Download

        Press Conferences , Edited News | UNCTAD

        UNCTAD Press Conference: Developments in the Economy of the OPT Report - 12 September 2024

        Palestinian economy “in freefall” amid ongoing Gaza conflict - UNCTAD

        Gaza’s economy has “collapsed months ago” while in the West Bank, violence and trade restrictions are fueling a massive surge in poverty and unemployment, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warned on Thursday.

        The war-torn enclave’s economy has shrunk to less than a sixth of its 2022 level, while up to 96 per cent of its agricultural assets and 82 per cent of all its businesses have been destroyed, according to UNCTAD’s latest report.

        “The Palestinian economy is in freefall,” UNCTAD deputy chief Pedro Manuel Moreno told journalists in Geneva. “The report calls for the international community to halt this economic freefall, address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development.”

        Mr. Moreno insisted on the need for a “comprehensive recovery plan” for the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as increased international aid, the release of withheld Palestinian revenues withheld by Israel and an end to the blockade on Gaza.

        According to UNCTAD, in addition to “unprecedented loss of life” and displacement, the combined impact of Israel’s military operation in Gaza that followed the attacks of 7 October 2023 by Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel, and the conflict’s repercussions in the West Bank “delivered an unparalleled shock that overwhelmed the Palestinian economy across the occupied Territory”.

        The Palestinian agricultural sector shrunk by 11 per cent in the last quarter of 2023, which is “especially worrisome” given the sector’s importance in terms of jobs, exports and food security, said Mutasim Elagraa, coordinator of UNCTAD’s programme of assistance to the Palestinian people.

        “The agricultural sector is a shock absorber - whenever there's a crisis and Palestinian workers lose their jobs, whether in the domestic economy or with their work in Israel and settlements, they go back to agriculture temporarily, and there they can produce some income,” he explained.

        UNCTAD stressed that in the West Bank, settlement expansion and increased settler violence, land confiscations and demolition of Palestinian structures are driving population displacement and record unemployment, with over 300,000 jobs lost since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza.

        “It's the highest unemployment recorded for the West Bank,” said UNCTAD economist Rami Alazzeh “Even in the peak of the second Intifada, the highest we've seen is 28 per cent. In the first quarter of 2024, unemployment reached 35 per cent” – almost triple what it was prior to October 2023.

        In Gaza, the situation is even more “extreme” UNCTAD said, with two thirds of pre-war jobs lost by January 2024 and the entire population of the enclave dependent on international aid.

        “What's left in Gaza is basically the humanitarian support… the humanitarian aid workers, local UN staff, doctors, nurses, that's it,” Mr. Alazzeh said. “The economy basically collapsed months ago.”

        Asked about prospects for an economic recovery once the guns are silenced, UNCTAD’s Mr. Elagraa warned that “if we want to return Gaza to pre-October 2023, we need tens of billions of dollars, or even more, and decades.”

        -Ends-


        Audio Files 2
        Download Palestine Report UNCTAD – 12 September 2024 (Edited Story)
        Download
        Download UNCTAD Press Conference: Developments in the OPT Report - 12 September 2024 (Continuity)
        Download

        Similar Stories

        UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

        UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza ENG FRA

        “Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 03 June 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Press Conferences | FAO , ILO , OHCHR , UNDP , UNHCR , WHO

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 03 June 2025 ENG FRA

        Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the International Labour Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.

        Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OCHA

        Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians

        Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 30 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Press Conferences | IFRC , OCHA , UNCTAD , WMO

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 30 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Trade and Development, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

        Humanitarian Aid in Gaza

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 27 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Press Conferences | WHO , OCHA , UNRWA

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 27 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Telecommunication Union.  

        Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA

        Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA ENG FRA

        As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.

        Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani  urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR

        Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts ENG FRA

        UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OHCHR

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech ENG FRA

        UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 23 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Press Conferences | WHO , WMO , OCHA , UNHCR , OHCHR , UNDRR

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Michele Zaccheo, Chief, UNTV, Radio and Webcast Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

        Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | OCHA , WHO

        Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis  - UN humanitarians

        Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

        Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO

        1

        1

        1

        Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO

        Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

        UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount

        Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday,  But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 20 May 2025

        1

        1

        1

        Press Conferences | WHO , UNRWA , UNHCR

        UN Geneva Press Briefing - 20 May 2025 ENG FRA

        Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization.