GAZA - Thanks to a generous contribution of EUR 3 million from the European Union (EU), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has supported 23,400 people in need (more than 4,000 families) with critical assistance in the Gaza Strip.
The contribution from EU Humanitarian Aid provided three months of urgent multi-purpose cash assistance to those affected by the escalation in violence in May 2021. The EU's support came at a time when the humanitarian demands of Palestinian families were exceptionally high. It contributed to relieving the suffering of over 4,000 families whose homes and livelihoods were impacted during the eleven-day hostilities, which saw the gravest clash between Palestinian armed factions and Israel since 2014.
"The people of Gaza have faced a particularly difficult year. Impacted by the pandemic and escalating violence, the EU needed to be there for the most vulnerable Gazans," said Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management. "Cash assistance helped families at risk of losing everything find their footing again. As a long-standing donor of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, the EU is committed to stand in solidarity with people in need and uphold human dignity."
This escalation in fighting, COVID-19, and economic degradation have further impacted Gaza's increasing unemployment, food insecurity, and poverty rates. It has led to increased suffering of those living in the Gaza Strip, especially for the most economically fragile. The May hostilities left many families displaced and weighed down by the inability to meet their basic needs.
"People saw this assistance as a chance to breathe," said Samer AbdelJaber, WFP Representative and Country Director in Palestine. "The impact of cash assistance goes beyond helping people meet their needs. Its flexibility gives people the freedom to choose to spend the cash as they see fit. People having this freedom to prioritise, especially in an unstable context, is important and empowering."
Through this intervention, families in need received US$270.5 per month to spend according to their necessities, helping households repay debts and pay for food, shelter, and healthcare.
In Palestine, WFP provides food assistance to the most vulnerable people through in-kind food and cash-based transfers while supporting long-term resilience via a livelihood approach that employs targeted training, supporting skills-focused employment opportunities, and providing home-based agricultural assets to improve food security and nutritional needs of the most vulnerable and impacted Palestinian households. WFP also works with partners, donors and local institutions to provide technical support to enhance the capacity of national partners and national social protection systems.
