By NNN-WAFA
Rome : The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping Palestinian farmers, shepherds and fishermen in Gaza and the West Bank whose livelihoods have been severely affected by ongoing difficulties in getting essential products into those areas.
In a statement, FAO Emergency Operations Senior Planning Officer Suzanne Raswant said she was “impressed at the energy and commitment of the FAO Gaza team which is working hard to deliver services and assistance under very difficult conditions.”
She added that in addition to the current projects, FAO is seeking an additional $7.3 million this year to help restore livelihoods for farmers, those raising livestock and fishermen, as well as to improve food security.
Raswant mentioned that FAO currently has 14 projects – amounting to $10 million – in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, focusing on areas such as horticulture and greenhouse and irrigation rehabilitation.
There has been serious concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, given that agriculture and fisheries have been severely impacted by lack of inputs, constraints on farm exports and restrictions on fishing areas.
In WASHINGTON, US officials said on Friday the United States plans to announce tens of millions of dollars in new aid for the West Bank and Gaza next week to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories.
The funds will be channeled through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, which handles U.S. and other aid for food, health, education and other areas, said U.S. officials.
“The timing is right,” said Samuel Witten, acting assistant secretary of state for the bureau of population, refugees and migration. “We are acutely aware of the challenges facing the people of Gaza and these contributions that we are making are a response to that,” he told Reuters.
Witten declined to provide details of the exact amount the United States plans to announce next week but made clear the funds would be subject to strict U.S. oversight regarding aid to the Palestinians.