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Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad Launch “Future for Palestine” Initiative to Improve Living Conditions
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad launched the initiative “Future for Palestine” in their meeting today in Berlin. The initiative aims to achieve improvements in the lives of the Palestinian people through targeted projects that can be implemented quickly. It “shows the Palestinian people that we are on a path to improve their living conditions,” Steinmeier said after his talks with Fayyad. Launched with funds from the German Foreign Office, the initiative has already found support among the German business community, associations, and foundations. The initiative “Future for Palestine” consists of relatively small, visible projects, that will directly benefit the Palestinian people within the coming months. The time horizon for all activities is the end of 2008. “Germany supports the peace process politically. International negotiations are important; donor conferences are important. But what we need now are also local projects which can be implemented very quickly,” Steinmeier stated further. The six projects in the first phase have a volume of approximately 100,000 euros ($145,000) each and have been proposed by the Palestinian side and reviewed by the Foreign Office. Through these projects, four schools in the West Bank will be expanded or reconstructed, a kindergarten will be built, and a community center will be erected. The meeting between Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Prime Minister Fayyad that preceded the announcement focused on the state of the Middle East peace process. “Everyone knows how many obstacles still lie ahead of what will hopefully be a happy end to the peace process,” Steinmeier said. “I do, however, hope that the parties find their way back to the talks even during difficult events, so that by the end of the year the course will be set for a Palestinian state.” Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Palestinian prime minister earlier in the day. Their consultations also centered on the Middle East peace process. The Chancellor made clear that she supports the course adopted in the negotiations recently in Annapolis on a peace solution between the Palestinians and Israel. Fayyad informed the Merkel extensively about his efforts to expand the institutions of a Palestinian state, particularly in the areas of the economy and security. Merkel und Fayyad agreed that the political negotiation process must be accompanied by a continued and gradual expansion of a sustainable Palestinian state. Fayyad reported on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The chancellor also expressed concern about the situation. At the same time, she referred to the ongoing shooting of rockets into Israel from Gaza, which absolutely must be halted. January 23, 2008
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