STA, March 20, 2018 – Slovenia announced it would donate half a million euros for a desalination facility in the Gaza Strip at a donor conference in Brussels on Tuesday, which raised EUR 456m for the project.
Slovenia's Ambassador to the EU Janez Lenarčič stressed in his address the importance of drinking water for peace and prosperity, noting that Slovenia had enshrined the right to clean drinking water into its Constitution.
He said Slovenia would allocate EUR 500,000 for the project in Gaza to help implement this right of the Gaza people.
According to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, the country's donation will help prevent a humanitarian and ecological disaster. At the same time, the construction of the desalination facility will significantly contribute to the safety and development opportunities of the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.
More than two million people in Gaza depend on water from a coastal aquifer, with only 3% of it considered to be safe for drinking by the WHO.
Since Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation due to reduced access to clean water, the European Commission has organised the donor conference in cooperation with the Palestinian authorities and the Union for the Mediterranean.
The Commission will contribute EUR 70m for the EUR 562.3m project, which is to give access to clean drinking water to more than two million people.
Slovenia regularly supports humanitarian activities to help Palestinians. Last week, it committed to donating EUR 165,000 between 2018 and 2020 for helping and employing Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, the ministry said.
The country also supports bilateral projects providing aid to Palestinian children and trains experts offering help to Gaza people through its fund ITF Enhancing Human Security.
