RAMALLAH, August 18, 2009 (WAFA)- The UN has appealed for $181 million to provide food, jobs and cash to the poorest of the poor in Gaza ahead of the start of the holy month of Ramadan which begins later this week.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says life for the one million refugees in Gaza is characterized by chronic unemployment, infrequent access to power and water, health hazards stemming from inadequate sewage system, and substandard housing with thousands living in tents or the rubble of their former homes, according to the UN Radio.
UN added that funds donated to UNRWA earlier in the year have been largely exhausted and donations are urgently needed to allow the agency to continue to support refugees as the winter season approaches.
UNRWA says while a generous response to the appeal would immediately mitigate the downward spiral of destitution and hopelessness facing many refugees as Ramadan approaches, it is only the lifting of the siege on Gaza and the opening of the borders in both directions that will curtail that destitution and hopelessness, UN said.
