WRITTEN QUESTION P-3906/02 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission. Problem of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Date: 2003-01-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU aid, Palestine, aid policy, food aid, malnutrition, undernourishment

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/307

The incident occurred as the police (a group of about 45 policemen, who were later joined by 40
gendarmes) set out to arrest four persons, all ethnic Romas, against whom arrest warrants had been issued
for theft and assault.

According to the police, 200 persons armed with pitchforks and axes surrounded them; a riot erupted, the
persons they had come to arrest tried to escape, whereupon the police warned them then started shooting.

According to a Roma Human Rights organisation the police used force disproportionately during the
search, and the suspects were targeted because of their ethnic origin.

According to the first results of the investigation conducted by the Prosecution Office of Bacau, as reported
by the head of
the Romanian Police in a declaration made on
11 December 2002, the police forces used their weapons in self-defence after they were attacked by
members of the Roma community.

the Public Order Directorate of

The final conclusions of the investigation by the Prosecution Office are not yet available.

The Commission monitors respect and protection of minorities in candidate countries as part of the
Copenhagen political criteria and reports on a yearly basis in its Regular Reports. The Commission will
take into account all relevant information on this issue and, more generally, on treatment of Roma people
by the police when drawing up this year’s Regular Report on Romania.

(2004/C 88 E/0313)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3906/02

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(7 January 2003)

Subject: Problem of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

The latest available UN data show that there is a serious problem of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank. The Palestinians are mainly suffering from micronutrition deficiency (cid:1) what the World Health
Organisation refers to as ‘hidden starvation’. Micronutrition deficiency deprives children of proper
development, damages their cognitive faculties often severely and immutably, depresses the immune
system of both children and adults and weakens mental and physical powers. In exceptional cases, it may
even cause blindness and death. At the same time, research carried out by the United States Agency for
International Development reveals that four out of five children in Gaza and the West Bank suffer from
iron and zinc deficiency and over 50 % of children show signs of carbohydrate and vitamin A deficiency.

In what way does the Commission allocate EU financial aid to Palestine to help deal directly with this
situation?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2003)

The Commission recently decided to allocate EUR 10 million in support to the World Food Programme
(WFP) Emergency Operation Plan (EMOP) n. 10190 through its Food Security Budget Line in order to
address the needs of the victims of conflict in the Palestinian Territories (PT). Target beneficiaries are some
360 000 vulnerable and destitute people from among the non-refugee Palestinian population. These
include children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers,
the elderly, handicapped and
chronically ill. These people were eligible for welfare assistance (cash and in kind) provided by the
Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs, a programme that had to be discontinued due to the present crisis
situation.

C 88 E/308

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

lentils,
The products that will be made available through the Commission funds are wheat flour, rice,
sugar, vegetable oil and olive oil. In order to ensure flexibility and a swift mobilisation according to the
WFP plans, these commodities will be procured and mobilised partly by the Commission from Member
States and partly directly by WFP from the Palestinian Territories and neighbouring countries.

In the framework of the WFP EMOP n. 10072 that terminated in August 2002, the Commission had also
made available EUR 5 million for the purchase of some 7 400 metric tonnes of wheat
flour and
3 200 metric tonnes of rice for the benefit of a similar caseload.

By so doing, the Commission has been by far the biggest contributor to these two programmes (a table
with contributions to the Palestinian territory is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s
Secretariat).

Since the mid nineties, the Commission has been financing every year a food aid and cash assistance
programme in favour of the vulnerable Palestine refugee population. This envelope stood at EUR 15 million
in 2002. The programme is run by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agencies) and covers five
operation areas, namely Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The
programme provides assistance to some 224 000 Special Hardship Cases, including 105 000 pregnant and
lactating women and their children, 500 Tuberculosis outpatients, families headed by widows, orphans,
elderly, medically unfit to work, etc. The beneficiaries assisted by this programme in the Palestinian
territories are 73 000 people in Gaza Strip and 31 000 in the West Bank. A recent evaluation study carried
out on the programme emphasised the relevance of the nutrition and supplementary feeding programme
components. These allow providing dry rations to women beginning in the fifth month of pregnancy until
one year after delivery, and iron supplementation to pre-school children and women of reproductive age at
Maternal & Child Health clinics.

In order to update the available data on food security, the Commission, in close collaboration with the
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), WFP and UNRWA, as well as United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and its partners is in the process of finalising terms of reference for a
comprehensive food security assessment that will cover urban and rural areas, as well as refugee and non-
refugee populations living in the Palestinian Territories. The mission will study and analyse the issues
related to food availability and food access in the Palestinian Territories and provide recommendations to
the Palestinian Authority for better co-ordinating the efforts put in place by the international community
to tackle the food insecurity situation. The mission is expected to be launched at the beginning of 2003. It
will be composed by a Senior Team of FAO and National Experts.

(2004/C 88 E/0314)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3907/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 January 2003)

Subject: Economic and social consequences of EU enlargement

As I pointed out in a previous question to the Commission, the forthcoming enlargement of the EU to
include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will have significant economic and social
consequences,
in particular for regions and Member States with economic structures similar to these
countries, such as Portugal.

it

is difficult

Moreover,
to understand how it was possible to propose a funding framework for
enlargement based solely on an assessment of the impact of enlargement ‘at EU level’, since it is clear that
the EU does not have a homogenous economy and there are enormous differences between countries,
regions and sectors of production.