The intervention will help in supporting the national efforts (led by the Palestinian National Consensus Government) for an early recovery of the Palestinian non-refugee population to access interim housing until reconstruction is completed following the destruction of houses and the displacement of families after the 50 days war in Gaza.
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SUPPLEMENTARY DECISION NO. 2 IN 2015
The Swedish funding through the Cash Assistance program has so far supported a total number of 3,958 families through the two contributions. 1,734 families received assistance from the first contribution for six months of transitional shelter and reintegration fees. 2,224 families received assistance from the second contribution for six months transitional shelter. The National Consensus government, which was announced a few months before the initial assessment for this program, is still officially in place with minor political changes. This government's actual control on the ground vis a vis the defacto local authorities, is difficult to determine. However, this does not affect the cooperation of UNDP and UNRWA with the two ministries involved in the program (Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Public Works and Housing), which takes place at the lower, technical level. In the implementation of the program, UNDP follows the Ministry of Housing and Public Works policy, which indicates that only families whose homes were totally destroyed will benefit from complementary cash assistance for transitional shelter or rental subsidies. Other families who are receiving assistance for rehabilitation of their partially destroyed homes have for the most part been allocated material for doing so. As stated above, the contribution remains straightforward and with few activities and clear goals. However, with the additional funding to take place before the end of 2015, which is to provide an additional support to eligible families for transitional shelter, the activity period is being prolonged by one more year. The previous two Swedish financial contributions together amounted to around 62% of the funds received for the program as a whole. The upcoming Swedish contribution alone will amount to around 50% of the funding gap reported by UNDP for the next 12 months.