New York – (IINA) January 23 – The United Nations and humanitarian partner agencies launched their largest ever appeal for Palestinians worth $462 million as the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is forced into greater dependency on humanitarian assistance in 2008. Twelve United Nations agencies together with 28 non-governmental organizations, including 15 international agencies, launched a joint appeal for $461.9 million to meet the basic human needs of the Palestinian population in 2008. It is the largest appeal for emergency humanitarian assistance ever launched in the occupied territories and the third biggest in the world, after Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The situation in the West Bank and Gaza is dire and getting worse. With the total shut down of Gaza, the vast majority of people there are now dependent on United Nations assistance, which is now in serious jeopardy,” said Filippo Grandi, the Deputy Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Maxwell Gaylard, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, said that closures not only hurt the economic well-being of families and communities in the occupied Palestinian territory but also erode the basic human dignity of the Palestinian population. ”It is for this reason that we call for continuing support for our efforts in bringing real and meaningful assistance where it is most needed in the West Bank and Gaza. The current lockdown of Gaza is of mounting concern. Despite welcome developments on the political horizon, if the closures continue, living conditions for 3.8 million Palestinians are expected to further deteriorate,” he said.
”Restrictions on the freedom of movement of goods and people are already stifling the economy and quality of life in the occupied Palestinian territory. In addition, the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations are also facing new obstacles, increased costs and restrictions in delivering aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the closure regime becomes more entrenched, he added. In the West Bank, hundreds of physical obstacles are destroying the economy and hindering aid delivery at a time when the international community is trying to put new life into efforts to get the peace process back on track and build capacity and institutions.
HA/IINA
23 Jan 2008