REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

19 September 2006

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired this briefing which was also addressed by Spokespersons for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.

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Christiane Berthiaume of the World Food Programme said in Gaza, Ramadan would be starting at the end of the week and the school year would be beginning. But half of the Palestinians living in the occupied territories were unable to feed themselves without assistance. The situation was worse in Gaza where 70 per cent of the population could not feed itself without assistance. This represented a 30 per cent increase in the number of people who needed assistance in comparison to August 2005. The economy was near total collapse in Gaza. WFP this month had increased the number of the persons which it was providing with food aid by 25 per cent to 220,000 persons, and it would try to further increase the number as the situation was deteriorating on a daily basis.

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Document Type: Press Release
Document Sources: World Food Programme (WFP)
Subject: Assistance, Food, Gaza Strip, Social issues
Publication Date: 19/09/2006