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Press Release

6 January 2009

DFID pledges £4 million to help food and water shortages in Gaza

DFID will allocate £4 million to help the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to address immediate humanitarian needs in Gaza, Secretary of State Douglas Alexander announced today. This £4 million is the first tranche of the $10 million (£6.8 million) the UK recently announced to meet humanitarian needs in Gaza.

For the people of Gaza, living conditions are deteriorating rapidly. The money announced today will help meet basic needs such as food, water and fuel which are running desperately low.

Douglas Alexander said:

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting worse by the hour and many thousands of people are suffering. We today call on Israel to allow sufficient supplies into Gaza and to do everything within its power to enable them to be distributed safely and immediately.

"We must do everything we can to ensure that desperate, vulnerable people in Gaza get the help they need. Full and safe access for humanitarian supplies and aid workers is essential to avert further suffering. We must help the 1.5 million people in urgent need of food, water and fuel.

"The government will provide £4 million in response to UNRWA’s recent Flash Appeal. This appeal will help UNRWA feed over half a million people and provide shelter for at least 5,000 people whose homes have been destroyed or who have been displaced by the violence. It will also allocate cash assistance for up to 2,500 families who cannot afford basic household items. DFID’s contribution will also fund additional fuel desperately needed to keep essential public services such as water provision and healthcare going.

"The government remains extremely concerned about the situation in Gaza and we reaffirm our appeal to all parties to end the violence immediately."

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Notes to editors

  1. DFID has committed £100 million to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over five years to help Palestinian refugees in the region, including the 70% of Gazans who are refugees. The £4 million announced today is in addition to this commitment and is in response to UNRWA’s Flash Appeal issued on 31 December. In 2008 DFID provided £19 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency for its work with Palestinian refugees and £2 million to the Red Cross to provide food, medicines and shelter in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We have also provided over £50 million to help the Palestinian Authority pay doctors' and teachers' salaries and provide essential services in both the West Bank and Gaza.
  2. Distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been difficult for some time. Since Hamas’ violent takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israeli restrictions on border crossings have been severe, causing shortages of aid supplies and affecting aid staff (no international NGO has been able to get staff into Gaza since 4 November). The recent hostilities have brought about almost complete closure of the crossings and created severe insecurity in Gaza that has made it very difficult for aid staff to operate and aid recipients to access aid at distribution centres.

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