Probably between 65 and 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza have either been destroyed or damaged, says Steiner in an interview in connection with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He estimates that the amount of rubble amounts to around 42 million tons, and says that the work in large ruin areas is both difficult and dangerous.
Water and Sewerage
Equally serious is the catastrophic situation for both the economy and the necessary infrastructure that has been completely destroyed, according to Steiner:
We estimate that about 60 years of development work has been lost in 15 months of conflict, he says, and notes that sewage systems, waste management, and drinking water pipes no longer function.
Steiner does not want to speculate about a timeframe for reconstruction, especially since the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza is fragile.
We are talking about many years before one can even come close to starting the reconstruction of actual buildings.
Psycho-Social Problems
Part of the difficult work lies on a personal level. Residents have lost their savings, they cannot pay off their loans, and they have lost their investments in, for example, stores or small businesses, says Steiner.
So we are talking about physical reconstruction in tens of billions of dollars, we are talking about the economy – but we must include the psycho-social phase of a reconstruction.
UNDP leader Steiner reflects, in the interview with the French news agency AFP, on the situation in Gaza:
Human desperation is not something that can be captured through statistics.
