In order to support the Palestinian Civil Police (PCP) and keep police officers and the general public safe in the ongoing fight against Covid-19, EUPOL COPPS has made a donation today of EUR 60,000 worth of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers.
“The Palestinian Civil Police are carrying out their duty to serve the public in extremely challenging circumstances. Frontline police officers do not have the option of working from home, and they need to be provided with the necessary protective equipment. For the public to be kept safe, the police need to be kept safe also. We are very happy to provide the assistance that our partners in the PCP asked for and would like to pay tribute to their courage and dedication during this difficult period,” said EUPOL COPPS Deputy Head of Mission Katja Dominik, who today briefly met Colonel Tareq Dawabshah, Deputy Head of Chief of PCP Secretariat/ Head of International Liaison Office at a safe distance to deliver the equipment.
The donation was facilitated by suspending ongoing EUPOL COPPS training programmes and other projects, which could not take place due to the pandemic, and reassigning resources to the purchase of equipment. It is expected that it will cover the needs of the PCP for the next three months. The donated equipment entails 45,000 daily use face masks, 5,000 N95 face masks, 500 protective eye goggles, 200 full-face 3M masks, 1,000 hooded protective overalls and 3,000 500ml bottles of hand sanitizer.
“We appreciate this gesture. This donation will help us to do our job better during these hard times,” said Colonel Dawabshah.
Today’s handover of protective equipment and sanitizer is part of a wider commitment made by the EU institutions, EU member states, Norway and Switzerland working as part of the ‘Team Europe’ coalition to support Palestinians in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as well as its humanitarian, health, social and economic consequences.
The EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS) is the European Union Police and Rule of Law Mission for the Palestinian Territories, based in the West Bank. It is an unarmed civilian advisory and mentoring mission, deployed under the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy.
