With a contribution from the Syrian Arab Popular Committee (SAPC), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been able to hand out some 3.86 million Syrian pounds ($75,000) in immediate humanitarian assistance to 250 families in Rafah, Gaza, who were left homeless following recent demolitions by Israeli forces.
The money was distributed as emergency cash assistance to help the families cope, by buying blankets and food or paying for rental accommodation. “UNRWA will use the donation to provide $300 for each of the 250 affected families,” said Deputy Director of UNRWA Affairs, Lex Takkenberg, who received the donation from Chairman of the SAPC, Ahmad Abdul Karim on October 15, 2003.
“The situation is becoming increasingly difficult, in part because three years of demolition operations have created an acute shortage of property in Rafah,” said Takkenberg. Distribution of the cash allowance was completed on 28 October.
Since the start of this Intifada, the total number of Palestinians left homeless throughout the Gaza Strip stands at nearly 12,000. SAPC’s donation comes on top of nearly two million dollars that the committee contributed to UNRWA’s emergency program in 2002. The committee has also donated $699,000 for the agency’s emergency food aid program for 2003.
SAPC was established in May 2001 to ease the suffering of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, representing Syrian doctors, lawyers, journalists and laborers.
UNRWA is a humanitarian relief and development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency relief to over four million Palestine refugees living in Syrian, Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
