The World Bank and the UN in the Occupied Territories

1 I use the term `stateless society' to refer to countries or areas where state structures are very weak or non-existent. Another, and perhaps more common concept to describe these situations is `collapsed states'. However, since Palestinian governing structures have been non-existent in the Occupied Territories, that term is somewhat misleading in this case. There are, however, many similarities between a `collapsed state' and a `stateless society' with regard to problems encountered by external developmental actors.

2 For a more thorough discussion of the problems connected to aid in weak states, see e.g. Nicole Ball with Tammy Halevy, Development Cooperation and War-to-Peace Transition (Washington DC: Overseas Development Council, 1996).

3 The `donor community' includes multilateral and bilateral governmental organizations as well as NGOs.

4 See World Bank Report 1994, Developing the Occupied Territories: An Investment in Peace, p. 2.

5 Regional organizations, like the OSCE, have started to take on more responsibility in situations of this type. For example, see Georgios Kostakos & Dimitris Bourantonis, `Innovations in Peace-Keeping: the Case of Albania', pp. 49-58 in this issue of Security Dialogue.

6 Poul Engberg-Pedersen & Claus Hvashøj Jørgensen, `UNDP and Global Environmental Problems: The Need for Capacity Development at Country Level' in Helge Ole Bergesen & Georg Parman (eds) Green Globe Yearbook 1997 (Oxford: Fridtjof Nansen Institute/Oxford University Press, 1997).

7 Two popular but not very well defined concepts in development policy.

8 The AHLC is the coordination forum on the donor side, established at the first donor conference in 1993. It consists of representatives from Canada, the European Union, Japan, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

9 See World Bank Report 1996, The World Bank Program in the West Bank and Gaza. Status Report.

10 Antonio Donini, The Policies of Mercy: UN Coordination in Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda (Providence, RI: Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, 1996).

11 The figure is based on United Nations/World Bank, 1995, Partners in Peace: Organizational structures of donor coordination mechanisms in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and a profile of the Sector Working Groups.

12 Author's interviews with donors and multilateral organizations, Gaza, October 1996.

13 Author's interviews, UNSCO office, Gaza, October 1996.

14 UNSCO represented the UN in the AHLC; it co-chaired the LACC together with the World Bank; and it shared the secretariat in the SWGs with the World Bank. Moreover, UNSCO represented the entire UN system (Bretton Woods institutions excluded) at the Consultative Group meetings, which were the major fund-raising events.

15 Author's interviews, UNRWA office, Gaza, October 1996.

16 For an analysis of the DHA's replacement in the UN reform package of July 1997, see Thomas G. Weiss, `Humanitarian Shell Games: Whither UN Reform?', pp. 9-23 in this issue of Security Dialogue.

17 Author's interviews, World Bank office, Jerusalem, October 1996.