CASH ASSISTANCE

The Agency also provides small cash grants for special hardship case families to help them buy essential but unaffordable items such as school clothing or school books. Grants are also given to these families in a crisis, for example if they have lost all their belongings in a fire. A simple cash payment of between $50 and $1,000 can make all the difference between the family being able to cope with a crisis and the prospect of going further into debt. The Agency has also had to assist the more than 5,000 refugees whose homes have been damaged or destroyed during military operations. UNRWA has provided tents, blankets, kitchen kits, medicines and drinking water, as well as cash assistance to help with renting a new home, to those families made homeless. The Agency is also rebuilding and repairing shelters. The main focus of the Agency’s rebuilding work has been Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and in Jenin camp.