GAZA, June 19, 2012 (WAFA) – Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed US $5 million for essential food needs of some of the poorest Palestine refugee families in the Gaza Strip, through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Tuesday said an UNRWA press release.
The contribution went through the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Campaign for the Relief of the Palestinian People of Gaza, a nationwide humanitarian effort launched by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2009.
An agreement to this effect was signed on Tuesday between Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, and Mubarak Al Bakr, Executive Director of the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, in the vicinity of the UNRWA Advisory Commission meeting at the Dead Sea in Jordan, added the press release.
The donation will help vulnerable families in desperate need of food assistance under the Agency’s social safety-net program, said UNRWA, adding that the program provides the poorest refugee families with food assistance, including baskets of essential commodities such as flour, rice, oil, sugar and milk to support them in meeting their basic nutritional needs and to overcome poverty.
“As a result of what is now five years of tight access restrictions and blockade, much of the population of the Gaza Strip remains unemployed, poor, and dependent on aid,” said the statement. “The majority of Gazans must turn to international agencies for help meeting their basic needs, with 68 per cent of the refugee population receiving food aid from UNRWA.”
Grandi expressed warm thanks to Saudi Arabia for this contribution, saying ' The Agency is deeply grateful for this new fund and for all the other generous support provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“The continued access restrictions in Gaza have meant that 800,000 people are dependent on our food programs. As long as this situation continues, UNRWA will be forced to continue to seek donations such as this generous contribution from Saudi Arabia,” added Grandi.
R.Q.
