PRESS RELEASE
30 September 2009

Khalifa Foundation donates for food aid in the oPt in response to UNRWA Ramadan Appeal

Amman, 30 September 2009

On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation (KBZF) donated food for Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In Gaza, the KBZF contribution financed the provision of 123,921 hot Iftar meals to poor refugees through 21 Community Based Organizations for 16 consecutive days during the holy month of Ramadan. At the same time, in the West Bank and Jerusalem area, the Foundation funded the purchase and distribution of more than 18,400 food parcels composed of wheat flour, rice, sugar, powdered milk, cereals, lentils and corn oil which benefited 7,376 needy families (approximately 36,880 refugees)

"The Agency is tremendously grateful to the KBZF for its significant donation" said UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Karen Koning AbuZayed. "In addition to the religious significance of this Ramadan donation, it helped alleviate the suffering caused by escalating poverty and malnutrition among refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories".

This generous contribution is nevertheless neither uncommon nor unusual for the Khalifa Foundation. As one of the Agency’s major partners in the region, the Khalifa Foundation has been a committed supporter of UNRWA’s activities having donated more than $4 million in response to UNRWA’s appeals over the last two years. The Commissioner General commended the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation for its continued support towards the Palestine refugees and added: "I hope that many foundations in the Arab world will be inspired by such generosity".

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