infopalThe Palestinian people are experiencing a humanitarian disaster on all levels, the director of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip, John Ging, confirmed on Tuesday.
During a meeting with delegates from the Palestinian ministry of refugees’ affairs in his office in Gaza, Ging called on the international community to take action to lift the siege on the Palestinian people who he said are living under very difficult conditions. He urged the donors to secure more money for UNRWA so that the agency can carry out its job properly.
Ging also expressed UNRWA’s readiness to cooperate with the Palestinian ministry of refugees’ affairs and the government in regard to the refugee issues and said that the agency will take the suggestions of the ministry into consideration.
Ging also urged the international community to open their eyes to what is going on in the occupied Palestinian territories. He said that thousands of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip went out into the streets to tell the world ‘No to Poverty’ and that they want to learn and live without poverty.
He said that the main way to fight poverty is through teaching and learning. He said that UNRWA is striving to inform the world that the educational situation is deteriorating in the Palestinian territories and UNRWA is trying to urge the world to pay more attention to this crisis. In particular, Ging said UNRWA wishes the world to combat the issue of the unpaid salaries of the Palestinian Authority teachers as a result of the siege.
Meanwhile, the general director of the coordination department in the ministry of refugees’ affairs, Hussam Ahmad, praised UNRWA for the aid it offers the Palestinian people and its role in easing the difficulties for them, especially in the shadow of the siege imposed on the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ahmad said, "We are required by the ministry to cooperate with UNRWA to facilitate its work and jobs in all aspects". He condemned the assaults carried out against some of the international organizations. He also asked UNRWA to pay out financial aid to the children before Eid Al Fitr, the Muslim feast that follows the holy month of Ramadan. He also urged the agency to document the statements and information about the refugees since their catastrophe began in 1948.