The Palestinian Authority (PA) is ready to run an independent state but will struggle to make further institutional progress due to the restrictions of the Israeli occupation, the UN has said.
Tuesday's report followed equally upbeat assessments of the PA's nation-building achievements released over the past week by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The postive statements come ahead of a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday of aid donor countries which will review Salam Fayyad's, the Palestinian prime minister, drive to construct the framework of a state by mid-2011.
"In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state," said the report.
The report,entitled "Palestinian State-building: A Decisive Period", listed the areas as: rule of law and human rights; livelihoods; education and culture; health; social protection; and infrastructure and water. However, it said the PA could not make significant further advances given the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and a breakdown in Middle East peace talks.
"Measures of occupation which stifle Palestinian life need to be fundamentally rolled back by more far reaching Israeli actions to match the progress of the state-building programme," the report said.
Direct negotiations aimed at ending the decades-old conflict broke down last September following a dispute over continued Israeli settlement building on the West Bank.