RAMALLAH, October 14, 2010 (WAFA)- Marking World Food Day 2010, CARE International has embraced this year’s theme “United against Hunger”, by starting fresh food distributions to more than 60,000 people throughout the Gaza Strip.
Few places in the world experience a tragedy like the one facing the beleaguered population of the Gaza Strip, where 75% of households are dependent on external aid in order to cover their basic nutritional needs and more than 60% remains food insecure ‘post-assistance’. With the blockade in its 3rd consecutive year, many challenges remain towards the fulfillment of the Right to Food of the Gazan people.
Coinciding with World Food Day, CARE, in close cooperation with its local partners, will restart a new phase of its program to minimize the effects of the blockade on the people of the Gaza Strip through direct food assistance. The 2.4 million € European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) funded project “Reducing Food Insecurity through Fresh Food Assistance and Agricultural Inputs to Vulnerable Households in the Gaza Strip”, under implementation since April 2010, forms part of this program.
CARE fresh food intervention enters its fourth consecutive year. Starting this October 16, the action will distribute fresh food packages containing five main vegetable crops, totaling 17 kilos, among food insecure, conflict-affected communities throughout the Gaza Strip. Food distributions will be made to a total of 7,600 food insecure households as well as social care institutions responsible for 1,800 patients, for a period of 25 weeks in 36 different communities across the Gaza Strip.
With the start of this food distribution program, CARE and ECHO are pleased to emphasize their enduring commitment to making food security an everyday reality for the inhabitants of Gaza.
