HEBRON, April 22, 2010 (WAFA)- The international humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger (ACF), in partnership with the Union of Agriculture Work Committees (UAWC) and Dura Cooperative Association for Agricultural Processing (DCAAP), announced today the launch of its second emergency employment project for Hebron Governorate.

With funding from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), temporary job opportunities rehabilitating agricultural roads and in food production will be available for more than 550 unemployed men and women.

An opening ceremony took place at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Hebron office and was attended by ACF partners, civil society representatives, national authorities, and the participating municipalities.

ACF and its partners UAWC and DCAAP will target those people who recently lost their jobs and have no other source of income. A total of 22,160 working days in road rehabilitation and food processing will be made available for the communities hardest hit by rampant unemployment.

The ACF representative for the southern West Bank, Mr. Mohammed Amayreh, said that “This project comes as an integral part of our immediate response to address the economic hardship in the targeted communities. The loss of work opportunities in Israel, following the building of the barrier, has placed enormous stress on the livelihoods of these communities”.

Lina Rabadi, from ECHO explained that “ECHO’s cash-for-work programmes provide vulnerable individuals with short-term employment and a temporary income. In 2009, ECHO allocated €16.5 million for cash-for-work programmes that benefit over 43,000 individuals and their families.”