Interpal contributes to UNRWA appeal

In December 2007 the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNRWA) launched its Emergency Appeal, calling on donors to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. Interpal has since contributed the equivalent of US$500,000 to this appeal.

 

According to UNRWA, Palestinians are forced to endure “deplorable levels of hardship and despair”, a rapidly shrinking economy and unprecedented levels of unemployment and dependency on aid handouts. Last year saw a “major intensification” of the Israeli siege on the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, UNRWA says; industry and infrastructure have crumbled, and basic commodities are either unaffordable or unavailable.

 

UNRWA’s stated aims for 2008 are broadly to: (i) mitigate the worst impact of the crisis on refugees, through social safety net support for the most vulnerable; (ii) guarantee that access to basic services is not compromised, and; (iii) respond to the impact of conflict- and non-conflict related violence. It seeks to achieve these through the provision of food aid, cash assistance and shelter, temporary job creation, access to health care and coping mechanisms for particularly vulnerable groups, such as women and young people.

 

Interpal’s contribution is divided into the equivalent of US$150,000 to provide food aid to the West Bank, and the equivalent of US$350,000 to provide shelter repair and fuel for waste collection and disposal to minimise the spread of disease in Gaza.