Lutheran World Relief Responding to Palestine Crisis

09 Jun 2006 19:30:13 GMT09 Jun 2006

Source: Lutheran World Relief (LWR) - USA

Reuters

Baltimore -- Lutheran World Relief this week gave $50,000 to the global aid alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) to provide supplementary food support and health and education services to families in the Gaza Strip and West Bank areas affected by the blockage of international funds to the Palestinian Authority.

“We’re pleased to be able to work with our partners to provide this humanitarian support to civilians,” said LWR President Kathryn Wolford. “This is really an emergency within an emergency – a humanitarian crisis created by ongoing political conflict.” Services will be provided through longtime LWR partner the Middle East Council of Churches/Department of Service to Palestine Refugees (MECC/DSPR).

With Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it was hoped that stability and normal lifewould return to the region, but they have not. According to the United Nations,the population faces imminent food shortages, and more refugees are likely to fall under the poverty line and become dependent on humanitarian aid. The UN has estimated that 750,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip are currently in need of food, in addition to another 600,000 individuals in the West Bank.

LWR’s partners will provide food to more than 5,000 families, emergency health services for more than 75,000 people, and emergency educational support for both vocational students and schoolchildren. About half of those receiving assistance will be children. The MECC/DSPR will later change its focus to a longer-term approach, encouraging self-reliance and the development of small businesses.

In addition to support of the MECC/DSPR, LWR also continues to support Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, which serves patients regardless of race, gender, religious belief, nationality, ethnic origin or political persuasion, and has played an important role in responding to emergencies arising from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

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