GAZA, December 19, 2015 (WAFA) – Italy has provided €2.18 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in direct support for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA announced in a press release that the Italian government made a generous contribution of €2.18 million (US$ 2,390,351) to the UNRWA to provide food assistance to the most vulnerable Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

“Last summer’s hostilities and the ongoing blockade of the coastal enclave, which entered its ninth year in June 2015, have devastated the local economy. The unemployment rate in Gaza is now one of the highest in the world, contributing to rising levels of poverty and food insecurity,” said UNRWA.

“As a result, Palestine refugees in Gaza have become increasingly reliant on UNRWA to meet their basic needs,” it added.

It explained that over the last 15 years, the number of refugees in need of food assistance has increased tenfold, from 80,000 in 2000 to over 868,000 in 2015. This number is expected to increase up to 1,000,000 refugees in 2016.

Highlighting the purpose of the food assistance programme in Gaza, the UN agency stated that it helps mitigate the effects of poverty by ensuring that the poorest Palestine refugees are able to meet their minimum food needs.

The Italian contribution will enable the programme to distribute in-kind food – including wheat flour, rice, sugar, oil and milk powder – to approximately 106,866 food-insecure Palestine refugees in Gaza in 2016, noted the release.

Italy has long been one of the Agency’s most reliable donors. In 2015, Italy contributed EUR 8.75 million (US$ 9.56 million) to UNRWA, including EUR 4 million (US$ 4.36 million) for the Agency’s core programmes and services and EUR 1 million (US$ 1.09 million) for the emergency in Yarmouk, Syria.

K.F./T.R.