Palestine under occupation: Is 2030 Agenda for Development possible?

Two years have passed since the decision by the 90th session of the Palestinian Council of Ministers on 19 February 2016, to form a national team to lead and coordinate national efforts to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order to contribute to the dissemination of the Agenda, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the outcomes and results of this national team have not been realized, despite the fact that the government attempted to integrate the goals and targets into its national development strategies. The main obstacle to realizing these goals and targets is the colonial military occupation that continues to abolish all means of development in Palestine, in addition to ongoing land confiscation, continuous looting of Palestinians financial and natural resources, West Bank fragmentation due to settler expansion and the Gaza Strip blockade. UNCTAD’s latest study concludes that Palestinians have been denied the human right to development after half a century of occupation and appropriation of land and resources. The situation is shown in a number of alarming indicators. According to the Palestinian statistics bureau, almost one in three people (29.2 percent) were living below the poverty level in 2017. With 53 percent of individuals in Gaza Strip found to be poor in 2017, the poverty rate for Gaza Strip was more than four times higher than that of the West Bank, which was 13.9 percent, reflecting the catastrophic effect of the 10 year and ongoing blockade on the Palestinians.