Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance provided to the Palestinian Authority does not end up funding terrorist activities.

DFID has robust measures in place to ensure UK Aid reaches its intended beneficiaries. UK aid to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) health and education sectors is channelled through the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE). Our money goes into a special, dedicated bank account before being paid to individuals who have been vetted in advance. The bank account is only used for UK aid. Independent auditors check that the money paid out from the special bank account only went to the vetted individuals after every disbursement.

UK’s financial aid to support the PA’s water and energy sectors will be channelled through The World Bank Partnership for Infrastructure Development in the West Bank and Gaza Multi Donor Trust Fund. UK aid will flow from the trust fund to dedicated accounts that will be managed by the PA in accordance with rules established by the World Bank, and be subject to the review of external financial auditors to provide assurance that the expenditure of funds was only on agreed programme activities.