19 January 2009
East Jerusalem
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Campaign for the Relief of the People of Gaza is sending urgently to UNRWA $6 million to provide food for the people of Gaza. It is also sending $500,000 to buy fuel which UNRWA provides to local authorities and utilities in Gaza to pump water and incinerate refuse, both essential operations in prevent outbreaks of disease.
The funds for food will enable UNRWA to provide food packages to 550,000 people for sixty days.
Welcoming the donations, Karen Koning Abu Zayd, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said: “ This is an enormous help to UNRWA and the people of Gaza, coming at a time of dire need. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both government and people, have been generous in the past to Gaza, the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Palestinian People having donated last summer $5 million for Gaza, as well as $1 million for refugees in Lebanon. In the name of the Agency and the refugees I want to express deep and sincere thanks to His Majesty the King for these generous donations by his Campaign for the Relief of the Palestinian People. His Majesty’s concern for the suffering of Palestinians is of course well known. I also wish to thank His Royal Highness Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Minister of the Interior and Supervisor General of the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People, whose concern for Palestinians is also well known. This generous donation from the King's Campaign helps to get us off to a good start on the huge task of restoring UNRWA services and helping Gaza to recover from the catastrophe which has hit it".”
In June 2008 the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Palestinian People donated $5 million to buy food for Gazans and $1 million to buy medicines and other medical items for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia has also financed major housing projects in Gaza, unfortunately unfinished because of the blockade. The Saudi Fund for Development is funding a major housing project at Rafah in Gaza, work on which has been suspended for months because of the restrictions imposed by Israel on the importation of building materials into Gaza.
Ends
For more information please contact
Christopher Gunness
UNRWA Spokesperson
Mobile: +972-(0)54-240-2659
Office: +972-(0)2-589-0267
Sami Mshasha
UNRWA Arabic Spokesperson
Mobile: +972-(0)54-216-8295
Office: +972 (0)2-589-0724
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