Overall aim: To improve economic opportunities and social conditions of marginalized groups.

Eight years of severe economic crisis have severely undermined living standards and developmental prospects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli-imposed movement restrictions, facilitated by over 500 military check points and barriers and the continued construction of the 700-kilometre-long wall inside the West Bank in contravention of international law, have seriously disrupted routine economic activities and community life. Transport and production costs continue to escalate; vital social and economic links between the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, and between villages and urban areas within the West Bank have been severed. In Gaza, residents live under siege with Israeli military strikes from land, air and sea an almost daily event.

Across the WBGS, Palestinians have suffered increasing poverty for nearly a decade, with an acute deterioration in conditions since 2006. Close to two-thirds of the WBGS Palestinian population now live in poverty and unemployment rates hover at 30%; in the Gaza Strip 70% of the population lives in poverty (less than $2 per day consumption) and severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people in and out has led to critical and chronic shortages of food and other basic supplies and services. In Lebanon, the already volatile socio-economic conditions of Palestinian refugee communities have been exacerbated by the recent war and then the siege of Nahr El-Barad Refugee Camp, resulting in the displacement of some 32,000 residents.

The ability of the PA to deliver basic social services in the WBGS has been seriously undermined by financial restrictions imposed by Israel and the international community as a result of the outcome of the national elections in 2006. The Ministry of Social Affairs has been able to make only marginal increases in the number of recipients of assistance since 2000 despite the significant rise in poverty. Within this context, civil society organizations continue to play a critical role in economic and community development in the WBGS as well as in Palestinian communities in Lebanon and in 1948 areas. Responding to the specific priorities and needs of women, youth and persons with disabilities, key priorities for this sector are the strengthening of inclusive approaches to development, enhancing employment and income generation opportunities and improving the quality of programs and services.