Executive Summary
Civil society organisations working in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) encounter many challenges and restrictions to providing vulnerable populations with services and programmes.
ABC Consulting has been contracted by the International Civil Society Centre to analyse operating conditions of both local civil society organisations (CSOs) and international civil society organisations (ICSOs).This study sought to capture up to-date qualitative and quantitative data illustrating the extent and impact of the restrictions faced by ICSOs, Palestinian CSOs, UN Agencies and Israeli CSOs operating in the oPt.
A mixed-method approach was used to collect both quantitative data through a survey and qualitative data through key informant interviews. A total of 84 organisations filled out the survey and 18 organisations were interviewed as key informants.
The study found that accessing funding was a main constraint for CSOs working in the oPt in general, and especially for Palestinian CSOs. Fifty-six per cent of survey respondents and all key informants said funding is a significant challenge. The counter terrorist legislation published officially by the government of Israel makes donors unable or unwilling to fund civil society activities in the oPt. Strict donor requirements, conditional funding and counter terrorism clauses in donor contracts are barriers to CSOs accessing much of the funding available. Banks can also respond to these policies by aggressively ‘de-risking’ and can refuse to transfer funds or require additional documentation about funded projects.
In the Gaza Strip surveillance and restriction of CSO operations by the de-facto government is another significant challenge mainly for ICSOs. All key informants from ICSOs raised this issue, explaining that additional time and resources are needed to work within the restrictions. The threat of smear campaigns led by Israeli state and non-state actors is also a key concern for CSOs operating in the oPt. Organisations facing these damnatory attacks spend considerable time and resources combating allegations and protecting their reputation.
CSOs face other obstacles such as damage to their facilities, confiscation of equipment or files, attacks and harassment of staff members in the field, and detention or arrest of staff members. Of survey respondents, 22.6 per cent reported experiencing such actions, which although not as common and widespread as the challenges mentioned above, still have a significant negative impact on organisations that experience them.
All CSOs – Palestinian, Israeli and international face the above-mentioned challenges to a larger extent than UN Agencies. Different types of CSOs face different challenges, making it difficult to coordinate advocacy and unify messaging which, in turn, perpetuates the challenges and affects CSOs’ ability to serve their target populations. Approximately two thirds of respondent organisations reported that these challenges and barriers negatively impact their ability to reach and provide support to communities in need.