2009 Consolidated Appeal for OPT/Gaza reconstruction – USG for Humanitarian Affairs – Press conference

HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL JOHN HOLMES ON MID-YEAR REVIEW OF 2009 HUMANITARIAN APPEALS

21 July 2009

John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed journalists this afternoon in Geneva following a mid-year review conference with Member States on the status of the 2009 consolidated humanitarian appeals. Mr. Holmes was joined by Gregory Starr, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security and Misikir Tilahun, the Head of Programmes for the non-governmental organization Africa Humanitarian Action, who also responded to questions.

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Reconstruction in Gaza / Situation in Occupied Palestinian territories

Asked how the United Nations was going to implement its projects to rehabilitate and reconstruct Gaza, given Israeli restrictions on movement of goods into the area, Mr. Holmes acknowledged that in the occupied Palestinian territories there were still severe problems about getting construction equipment on the ground, as Israel had banned most of them on the grounds that they could be used militarily by Hamas. They were pressing Israel to work with them. There were some non-food items that could be got in, it was items like bricks, pipes and cement that were hard to get. But they were negotiating.

Responding to questions on the situation in the West Bank, Mr. Holmes noted that the needs in the West Bank were for the most part not as acute, but it was a concern that the situation in Gaza Strip was taking the focus away from the situation there.

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