Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her international partners on the effectiveness of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism.

DFID is supporting the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) to facilitate the import of construction materials into Gaza. We are providing £0.7 million to the Materials Monitoring Unit which oversees and monitors the import, storage and supply of construction materials into Gaza under the GRM. We welcome the June 2015 agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities creating the Residential Stream of the GRM to allow imports of building materials into Gaza for the reconstruction of homes that were completely destroyed. Progress is being made with over 4,200 beneficiaries participating and almost 2,000 having bought construction material. The UK continues to call on international partners to disburse their pledges made at the October 2014 Cairo Gaza Reconstruction Conference without delay so that the pace of reconstruction in Gaza can increase. In addition, we continue to lobby the Israeli authorities to lift restrictions on movement and access as part of a political agreement, which is the only long-term solution for reconstruction in Gaza.