USAID funds building school in Jalazon refugee camp

  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Saturday announced funding of the building of a school in the Ramallah-area Jalazon refugee camp in an area under full Israeli control, known as Area C. The construction will cost $1.7 million. Speaking at a press conference in Jalazon, assistant administrator for the Middle East bureau in USAID, Mara Rudman, said the girls’ school project, which will be implemented by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), will provide education to more than 1000 students and that the school will be equipped with modern classrooms, science labs and needed facilities. USAID will also fund the building of a pedestrian overpass connecting the girls’ schools with the boys’ school across the road to ensure the safety of the students in the high-traffic area. Rudman indicated that the project was approved and will be implemented under constructive cooperation between USAID, UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. She also noted that USAID funded a project to build a school in Haramalah, a village east of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, with $600,000. USAID also funded a health clinic in the village. USAID spent $5.5 million in funding 10 schools and health clinics in the past 18 months in area C, which represents US efforts to provide key services to Palestinian residents in an area under Israeli rule. USAID grants $500 million dollar annually in aid to the Palestinians.