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التكاليف الاقتصادية للاحتلال الإسرائيلي على الشعب الفلسطيني: تكاليف مالية تراكمية
Nov 2020The study addresses the leakage of Palestinian fiscal revenue to Israel and provide up-to-date data on the sources of losses of Palestinian fiscal resources. It explains that the fiscal costs are part of the overall economic costs caused by occupation and consists of two components: (i) Palestinian fiscal leakage to Israel under the PER and (ii) other fiscal losses that are not leaked to Israel but caused by policies and measures imposed under the prolonged occupation.
Executive Summary
Despite the temporary state of optimism that followed the signing of the Protocol on Economic Relations (Paris Protocol) today a steady deterioration of the Palestinian economy can be seen in most economic and development indicators the chronic fiscal and trade deficit and the high level of dependence on the economy of Israel. The expected gains and outcomes from the Paris Protocol were counterproductive given that the ensuing trade framework and economic policies of Israel do not serve the interests of the Palestinian economy. Add to that the closure policy of Israel and restrictions on the movement of people and goods and a range of security and military measures imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory which have led to accumulating economic losses to the Palestinian people. The fiscal part of these losses is the main focus of this study.
Cumulative fiscal leakage and losses and their impacts on the economy and employment
The estimates of fiscal leakage and losses presented in chapter V are indicators of part of the cost incurred in only one year by the Palestinian people as a result of the enduring Israeli occupation. As noted the fiscal leakages covered in this study are a part of the fiscal losses which in turn are a part of the greater economic costs of the Israeli occupation. The latter is measured by the difference between the position of PNA under two scenarios namely the current fiscal position of PNA under the status quo which gives Palestinian policymakers a narrow policy space and the assumption that occupation is removed and the State of Palestine has fiscal sovereignty over all sources of public revenues and expenditures. In other words the cost of the Israeli occupation includes all direct and indirect losses caused by the occupation measures and control of all Palestinian resources and revenues.
The Palestinian fiscal crisis and previous estimates of fiscal leakage and losses
The trade and taxation regime currently in operation has long burdened the Palestinian economy. The many shortcomings of the Paris Protocol have allowed fiscal leakage to the treasury of Israel and entailed a lack of Palestinian sovereignty which has led to the loss of control of tax collection minimization of the tax base and weakening of access to information and tax records. The fiscal ramifications have limited the ability of PNA to respond to frequent humanitarian crises and meet other economic commitments and obligations.
The interdependence between the Paris Protocol trade regime and structure and sources of revenue
The Palestinian trade and taxation policy framework was established in accordance with the Paris Protocol as the West Bank and Gaza Strip came under the jurisdiction of PNA for a transitional period that was stipulated to last for only five years. The Protocol shapes the main policy framework for the management of economic affairs by PNA not only in terms of external trade relations but also in terms of financial monetary and other economic relations with Israel including policies related to importing taxation banking insurance water and energy. As mentioned earlier this study is not concerned with assessing the deteriorating economic conditions associated with the Protocol which has been elaborated in numerous other studies. Instead this study is mainly concerned with investigating the fiscal and tax revenue aspects of the Protocol in relation to the trade and taxation policies of Israel identified in article III of the Protocol (for more information see UNCTAD 2014a).
Rationale and background
Since 1967 the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been subject to protracted Israeli occupation that has created a hostile environment affecting the Palestinian economy and all spheres of life. Following the signing of the Protocol on Economic Relations in 1994 which was expected to improve Palestinian economic conditions the economic policies as well as the security and military measures of Israel imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory have rendered the outcomes of the Paris Protocol inimical to Palestinian development needs. The Palestinian economy is characterized by deteriorating economic indicators along with a chronic fiscal and trade deficit and a high level of dependence on the economy of Israel. This has entailed over two decades of denying the Palestinian people and economy the right to benefit from the country’s diverse natural and water resources and to make optimal use of fiscal financial and other resources. The issue of the costs of the Israeli occupation and Palestinian fiscal losses and revenue leakage to Israel resulting from flawed application of the Paris Protocol are therefore garnering increased attention. In this context since 2014 different studies have addressed Palestinian fiscal leakage and losses resulting from the current trading framework with Israel the first of which was published by UNCTAD in 2014.
Conclusion and recommendations
The signing of the Paris Protocol inspired a new state of optimism about the Palestinian economy. Expectations relied inter alia on the positive indicators of improved control and monitoring of public revenues and the maintenance of sustainable sources thereof. All of that was built on the hopes that under the Paris Protocol PNA would be able to benefit from reasonable policy space. However over 25 years this optimism has dissipated leaving PNA constrained and tied to trade and fiscal policies that do not foster the growth or development of its economy. The Paris Protocol has fostered a reality that allows only minimum policy space leading to an enduring loss of revenues and a lack of control over the largest portion of these resources and resulting in fiscal leakage and losses from many sources in addition to the temporary or permanent seizure by Israel of Palestinian revenues a stark violation of the terms of the Paris Protocol.
Fiscal leakage and tax evasion
This chapter discusses some of the concepts related to fiscal leakage and the causes and sources of each type of leakage within the focus of this study including the nature and mechanisms of the evasion of customs duties and taxes.
Estimating some of the fiscal costs of occupation for the Palestinian people: Leakage and other fiscal losses
The concept of the Palestinian fiscal costs due to occupation is part of the overall economic costs of occupation. It is a broader concept than the leakage of Palestinian public revenues to the treasury of Israel because it also includes other fiscal losses caused by policies and measures imposed by the occupying Power but that have not leaked to the treasury of Israel.
Harsh Realities: Marginalized Women in Cities of the Developing World
Oct 2020For women and girls urbanization is often associated with greater access to education and employment opportunities lower fertility rates and increased independence. Yet women are often denied the same benefits and opportunities that cities offer to men. Moreover women are frequently excluded from efforts to create more equitable and sustainable cities. Women living in urban slums particularly endure multiple hardships with basic needs such as durable housing and access to clean water and improved sanitation facilities often going unmet. This analysis based on data from 59 low- and middle-income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Central and Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa finds that women and their families bear the brunt of growing income inequality and failures to adequately plan for and respond to rapid urbanization.
Lifelong learning
The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and the Education Code establish the right of every citizen to education. By law there is no age restriction to access any level of education. This applies also to qualification upgrade staff training and retraining. At the same time as of today older persons both of pre-retirement and retirement age do not participate actively in the system of formal education.
Families and Intergenerational solidarity
Key actors in providing care to those who are in need of it are the State family and the community. While the State normally ensures social security health and social services (formal care) the family and community take on themselves the provision of informal care. The importance of informal care is growing with the demographic change. According to estimates in European countries 80 per cent of the long-term care is provided by informal carers and informal caregivers constitute from 10 to 25 per cent of the total population in Europe.
Method
The development of a Road Map generally includes four steps: (1) a desk study (2) a field study (3) the drafting of the Road Map and consultations on its recommendations and (4) eventual elaboration of a plan of action by a country. In developing the present Road Map for Belarus the first two steps were carried out simultaneously in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the local office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Belarus).
Responsive labour markets
About 71 per cent of the total 15-74 years old population in Belarus are counted as economically active. According to the official statistics based on Household Employment Survey (HES) some 4.8 per cent of them were unemployed in 2018. The employment rate fluctuated between 67.2-67.5 per cent in 2017-2018. About 40 per cent of employed persons were engaged in state-owned sector. Only 4 per cent of population are working on their own account.
Belarus: The context
Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by the Russian Federation to the east Ukraine to the south Poland to the west and Latvia and Lithuania to the north-west. Its total land area is 207600 km2.
Research and data collection
At the core of this Road Map report is understanding that population ageing affects virtually all domains of society and brings challenges and opportunities which require evidence-based policy responses. The need for relevant statistics is therefore equally wide-ranging. The UNECE Recommendations on ageing-related statistics point out that such statistics are cross-cutting and concern all areas of social and demographic statistics as well as government finance and public sector statistics. Statistics in various other domains that do not focus on the process of ageing as such do provide information about the situation of people at different ages the timing of important transitions in people’s lives and about services and expenditures that target different age groups. Hence the statistics needed to inform policymaking go far beyond demographic measures in order to fully understand and plan for the consequences of ageing.