The Cairo Conference on Palestine – Reconstructing Gaza
Cairo, 12 October 2014
Fact-sheet for the Conference: Roles and Responsibilities
The Cairo Conference on Palestine, Reconstructing Gaza, aims to shape a political horizon
ensuring long-term stabilization of the entire Palestinian territory and to address the
immediate needs for early recovery and rebuilding the war-made disaster in Gaza by
mobilizing donors. To achieve these goals, and to alleviate the situation for the Palestinian
people, it would be necessary to ensure an efficient, transparent and durable partnership
between the Palestinian Authority, donors and implementing partners on the ground. A key
in this process will be strategic guidance by all stakeholders and a joint formula on
sustainable mechanisms to finance and to transfer goods to Gaza, assisting the Palestinian
people.
Speakers – Plenary Session
The plenary session will consist of two sequential segments, the opening from 10:00 – 13:00,
which includes statements by the hosts; keynote speakers; Palestinian Authority; Co-Chairs
and the general debate with statements and pledges from 14:30 – 19:00.
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The three hosts of the conference, Egypt, Norway and the PA, have designed the
plenary conference hall around a central podium, which will be used by the hosts, the
keynote speakers and the Co-chairs. All other speakers will deliver their statements
from the floor.
Four keynote speakers (the UN Secretary General, the US Secretary of State, the
High-representative of the EU, the Secretary General of the Arab League), have been
invited to deliver statements after the hosts, focusing on “framing the challenges”,
provided 10 minutes each.
PA’s Deputy Prime Minister has been invited to introduce the core messages from
the “National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza” after the segment of
the keynote speakers.
Five Co-chairs (the Foreign Ministers of France, Jordan, Italy, Japan (tbc) and the
Quartet representative) have been invited to address the Conference with a special
attention to “framing the international response”, provided 6 minutes each.
Speakers list: All countries and some of the invited organizations are invited to
deliver statements during the general debate segment of the plenary session,
provided 3 minutes each.
Chairs: The opening segment of the plenary session will be presided by the hosts and
the general debate by the hosts and designated co-chairs.
Format: The seating arrangement in the plenary hall will be 1+4 for all delegations.
Language: There will be used three official languages at the Conference: English,
Arabic and French, including the side events.
Media: The plenary session will be open to the press, by live streaming on monitors.
Side events
In the margin of the second segment of the plenary session, three thematic side events will
be conducted on a sequential basis in a separate room. The purpose is to enable thorough
and in-depth discussions on three core-issues deemed crucial with respect to
implementation of the reconstruction efforts. The core-issues are the following:
1. Bringing goods into Gaza (panel: Italy (moderator), PA, UNSCO, UNDP, USA)
2. Financial transfer- mechanisms (panel: France (moderator), PA, WB, IMF, UNRWA,
EU)
3. Early recovery (panel: EU (moderator), PA, OQR, UK/DFID, UNRWA, UNDP, USA)
The side events are open for all delegates and designed for interactive discussions at expert
level (senior officials, 1+1 format). Each panel will consist of a moderator and panellists who
will provide factual updates and briefings on the topics, emphasizing outstanding challenges
and recommendations including follow-up mechanisms, followed by an interactive Q&Asession among the delegates. While there will be no formal outcome-documents from the
deliberations, a brief summary of the discussions highlighting recommendations, will be
provided by the moderators afterwards.
The side events will be closed to the press.
Registration and counting of pledges
A secretariat of experts will be tasked to ensure that all pledging figures announced by the
delegates are accurately reflected and incorporated into the global digit, which will be used
as the official figure in the Chairs conclusions. All delegations are therefore kindly
encouraged to share their respective pledging figures to the hosts prior to the Conference or
with the counting secretariat during the plenary session.
Chair’s Summary
While the Summary will be drafted by the hosts, keynote speakers and the co-chairs, other
participating delegations will be consulted to ensure views and positions are reflected in the
final conclusions. The Chair’s Summary will be presented at the end of the plenary session.
Pre-meetings
Egypt invites, on behalf of the hosts, all countries and organizations that are attending the
Conference, to a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo on Thursday 9 October at
12:00 noon.
All delegates will be invited to a welcoming reception at the hotel on Saturday 11 October
from 18:00 – 20:00.
Bilateral meetings
There will be an opportunity for all delegations to hold bilateral meetings in the margins of
the Conference. The focal point for room-reservations for bilateral meetings is Shahira
Elkady, who can be reached at elkadyshahira@gmail.com or cell phone +2 0100 160 3857.