Furthermore, upon the erection of Improving access to irrigation water in the Barrier, the Israeli authorities did , and Khirbet Jubara are Stories From not permit farmers to enter the large flagship CRDP interventions targeting amounts of diesel needed to operate the agricultural lands of the . underground wells in the area west of the The project was initially categorized as Barrier. At the same time, and to add to humanitarian - subsidy of diesel - and the Field the challenges farmers were facing, the has proven successful in its transition price of diesel increased significantly, to development aid. Regardless of the which affected the farmers’ purchasing difficulties of access they face, the power and even further disrupted their project aims to support the resilience of ability to operate the wells and irrigate farmers, so they can continue to attend their diminishing land. Initially, the to their land, by enhancing their access Swedish NGO We Effect implemented to irrigation water, lowering its cost, and a short-term humanitarian intervention increasing the accessible quantities. that during the summer season reduced This goal was achieved when CRDP Courtesy of the United Nations Development Programme the cost of irrigation water by fifty- partner We Effect implemented the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) two percent when it subsidized the project by replacing the deteriorating cost of diesel fuel needed to operate diesel-run pumping systems of three some of the wells in the Seam Zone; underground water wells (two of them in then, support was provided by the the Seam Zone) with new, more efficient New Opportunity Has Emerged! UNDP’s Community Resilience and ones, operated by electricity. After A Abu Azzam is a Palestinian farmer from village in the Development Programme (CRDP). completing most of the rehabilitation , a village near the western border of the “The Community Resilience and processes, the discharge rates of the . Residents in the area rely on farming and agriculture as their Development Programme (CRDP) three targeted wells increased about main source of income; and Abu Azzam managed to raise and educate his helps farmers in saving on water prices, twofold. This had a great impact on the seven children by working in agriculture. For many years, he succeeded in which means that many farmers are farming activities in the area because looking after his land despite all kinds of hardship, especially as his land now able to come back to their land it decreased the irrigation costs for was at risk of being annexed due to its proximity to the Israeli settlement despite the difficulties of accessibility. farmers, which in turn increased the of Tsur Yigal. But, according to Abu Azzam, everything changed in October I personally now save half on water irrigated area by about two hundred 2002: When the Barrier was built, annexing around thirty dunums (three prices, which means that I can plant dunums (twenty hectares), and hectares) of his land to become an enclave between the Barrier and the and irrigate more of my land,” says enhanced the competitiveness of their in what is now referred to as the ‘Seam Zone’, Abu Azzam and Abu Azzam. produce. The guava planted in the area many other farmers lost their ability to access their land. This restriction is the best! was partially lifted when Abu Azzam got a special ‘farmer permit in the Seam Zone’ that enabled him to access and look after the land that his family had owned for generations.

Milk and Butter up to five hours a day. But since Khirbet Ar-Rahawa, a Bedouin the Community Resilience and community south of Hebron, did not Development Programme, as part have any electricity, nor does it have of UNDP’s support to marginalized schools. So children had to go to a communities in , has provided nearby village to get an education - Nayfeh with solar panels and a milk due to the lack of electricity, they often churn, not only has the process of could not finish their assignments at making butter decreased to half an home. Nayfeh used to live on her own hour instead of four, her brother and his in Khirbet Ar-Rahawa. She took care family have moved back to the Bedouin of her brother’s one hundred and fifty community in Khirbet Ar-Rahawa. sheep, while he lived with his wife and “Thanks to the project, I see my family children in a nearby village. more,” Nayfeh says. “The kids can Nayfeh used to milk sheep and make study at home after school now that we have solar electricity. I used to have Abu Azzam on his land. Photo by News & Information Agency, WAFA. butter in a process that can take

64 65 chronic pain in my arms because of the shaking to make butter, but now, no more in the Tana area, Abu Afif has access to communities on four main outputs: pain or shaking”. water right next to his cave. public infrastructure, protection of Throughout the area, Abu Afif has natural resources, income generation, helped in locating tens of ancient and and human rights. The program is abandoned water cisterns that were implemented by the UNDP’s Programme renovated during the lifetime of the of Assistance to the Palestinian People, project. funded by the Swedish, Austrian, and Norwegian governments, and led by the The Community Resilience and Palestinian government. Until this date, Development Programme (CRDP) fifty-two projects in various locations is an umbrella of multi-sector in Area C and East Jerusalem have projects that aim at injecting the been implemented that contributed developmental capital needed for to providing new opportunities and ’ sustainable development supported the resilience of hundreds through working with partners and of families.

Herd of a CRDP beneficiary in the village of Al Korshan. Abu Khardish’s home was provided with solar panels and a refrigerator. Photo courtesy of Ventura Formicone - @UNDP/PAPP.

Solar panels provided to a family in Al Rashaydah through CRDP. @UNDP/PAPP.

sheep, whereas his wife and nine kids A Cave With A Well reside in the nearby town in order for Tana is a herder community located them to be able to attend school. The in the eastern part of the Nablus family joins him in December during Governorate. The community is located the milking season. Because Abu Afif’s in Area C and considered by the Israeli tent has been demolished many times, army to be a closed military area. Abu he is now living inside a cave. He used Afif is a father of nine and a shepherd to travel a long distance to fetch water with two hundred sheep. He resides for his sheep, but since the UNDP in the Tana hamlet so he can graze renovated the water-harvesting cisterns 66 67