MERCY-USA CONTRIBUTES US$ 275,000 TO HELP PALESTINIANS IN GAZA
19 September 2014
Washington, DC
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development and UNRWA recently announced a US$ 275,000 agreement to provide emergency relief assistance to Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip.
This collaboration will enable UNRWA to provide 9,000 daily basic food rations to 1,285 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Agency’s emergency shelters. The daily food ration allows IDPs to meet their minimum daily food requirements as per World Health Organization standards. This contribution will also enable UNRWA to ensure that blankets, hygiene kits and other non-food items are available to approximately 676 families (3,380 individuals).
“Mercy-USA is grateful for the opportunity to partner with UNRWA to help Palestinian families in Gaza during this latest escalation of conflict,” said Kari Ansari, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Mercy-USA. “Because we have had a rewarding five-year working relationship with UNRWA, we are confident that our donor’s contributions delivered will have an immediate and direct impact on Gaza’s children and their families. We look forward to being part of the solution to the humanitarian crisis that Palestinian families will be facing in the coming weeks, months and years.”
Since 1988, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has been dedicated to alleviating human suffering and supporting individuals and their communities in their efforts to become more self-sufficient. Mercy-USA projects focus on improving health, nutrition and access to safe water, as well as promoting economic and educational growth around the world.
This intervention will help ensure that families who have been displaced or affected by the recent military escalation in the Gaza Strip are able to maintain their basic personal comfort and dignity.
“We welcome the generous donation from Mercy-USA and appreciate the organization’s ongoing support to Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip,” said Scott Anderson, Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.
Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF), supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently the deficit stands at US$ 56 million.
For more information, please contact:
Christopher Gunness
UNRWA Spokesperson
Mobile: +972 (0)54 240 2659
Office: +972 (0)2 589 0267
Milina Shahin
Public Information Officer – Gaza Field Office
Mobile: +972 599 609 485
Office: +972 8 2887213
Document Sources: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Gaza Strip, Humanitarian relief, Internally displaced persons, Living conditions, Population, Refugee camps, Refugees and displaced persons
Publication Date: 19/09/2014