USAID’s Post

For the past six months, the NGO community has been tirelessly advocating for the fundamentals required to deliver principled humanitarian aid in Gaza. We are horrified by the level of suffering and loss of life that we – and our teams – witness and experience on a daily basis in Gaza. We welcome recent commitments from US-Israel talks to support the humanitarian response and protect civilians, but these must translate into sustained progress on the ground and be followed by additional steps to address the humanitarian catastrophe. 1.1 million civilians are enduring famine conditions while the Israeli government has failed to provide the necessary conditions for unfettered access to scale up the humanitarian response and reach civilians across Gaza. The status quo is unacceptable. I’ve joined 50 NGO leaders to call for a series of concrete steps from US President Biden, including an immediate ceasefire, steps to protect civilians and aid workers, full and principled humanitarian access, secure the release of all hostages, and the prevention of a military offensive of Rafah where over a million civilians are sheltering. The US government should use all leverage, including security assistance, to achieve these outcomes. Read the full letter here: https://lnkd.in/ewW3nWKQ

$10 million humanitarian assistance for civillians in Gaza welcomed; ceasefire now needed The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) welcomes the Australian government’s announcement it will provide an initial contribution of $10 million to support humanitarian relief in Gaza, along with its strong calls to protect civilians. ACFID now calls on the Australian Government to exert its influence with the international community to seek a ceasefire or end to the escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Australia must continue to advocate for humanitarian access and civilian protection. ACFID is extremely concerned by the escalating casualties, now in the thousands, and the forced displacement of up to a million people. The shelling of civilian buildings including schools, health centres and homes is totally unacceptable, as is the denial of essential services. CEO Marc Purcell said: “Australia should start working with international partners to seek a ceasefire. In the present circumstances, this is the only way that humanitarian access and civilian protection can be upheld. “ https://lnkd.in/g9PpWY-2

Pax Christi International endorses the appeal made by numerous humanitarian NGOs operating in the Holy Land, urging the European Union and its Member States to continue their vital support for UNRWA. While acknowledging other humanitarian aid efforts by NGOs and entities, it is evident that these efforts alone cannot adequately address the fundamental needs of the population in the Gaza Strip. The indispensable role of UNRWA in delivering aid and facilitating coordination with other organisations cannot be overstated. Especially, we agree that "It is important to ensure a thorough investigation into the grave allegations by the Israeli authorities that 12 UNRWA employees directly participated in the attacks on October 7, and to ensure full transparency and accountability going forward. But the investigation and any subsequent accountability measures must not derail the critical, life-saving work of UNRWA in Gaza and throughout the region". Find the statement here: https://lnkd.in/ejb9hqBk Find also PCI most recent statement here: https://lnkd.in/es2nKXg9 International Rescue Committee

https://lnkd.in/gJ8F6Urj $10 million humanitarian assistance for civillians in Gaza welcomed; ceasefire now needed Oct 16, 2023 | Government News, Media Releases The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) welcomes the Australian government’s announcement it will provide an initial contribution of $10 million to support humanitarian relief in Gaza, along with its strong calls to protect civilians. ACFID now calls on the Australian Government to exert its influence with the international community to seek a ceasefire or end to the escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Australia must continue to advocate for humanitarian access and civilian protection. ACFID is extremely concerned by the escalating casualties, now in the thousands, and the forced displacement of up to a million people. The shelling of civilian buildings including schools, health centres and homes is totally unacceptable, as is the denial of essential services. CEO Marc Purcell said: “Australia should start working with international partners to seek a ceasefire. In the present circumstances, this is the only way that humanitarian access and civilian protection can be upheld. “ (continues in link below)

ACFID welcomes the Australian Government providing an additional $10 million in humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs in Gaza. The war in Gaza is causing extreme suffering for the entire population of over 2.3 million Palestinians across the Strip, with famine, widespread trauma, and unprecedented levels of destruction, as well as lack of access to food, water, shelter, and medicine. At least 36,000 people have been killed and over 84,000 have been injured, including over 7,000 children. The Australian Government has demonstrated immense generosity before, where we provided $207 million in humanitarian and stabilisation assistance to Iraq and $570 million in humanitarian support to Syria following the immense humanitarian impact of conflict these countries faced. We eagerly await further funding announcements that are on par with previous generosity demonstrated by the Australian Government. ACFID continues to call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties, unrestrained humanitarian access, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the protection of civilians. https://lnkd.in/gdz3Vw8M

A growing number of children caught up in armed conflicts around the globe are being denied access to critical humanitarian aid, a United Nations official warned Wednesday, as relief operations come under attack or are blocked by governments. The last report by the UN secretary-general on the rights of children in conflicts, published in June 2023, recorded nearly 4,000 confirmed cases of aid being denied to children, from Gaza to Yemen, Afghanistan and Mali. “Data gathered for our forthcoming 2024 report shows we are on target to witness a shocking increase of the incidents of the denial of humanitarian access globally,” Virginia Gamba, the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, told the Security Council Wednesday. She said last year’s figure already represented an “exponential” increase since 2019. “Cases of denial of humanitarian access are linked to the restriction of humanitarian activities and movements; interference with humanitarian operations and discrimination of aid recipients; direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure; disinformation and detention, violence against, and killing of, humanitarian personnel; and looting,” Gamba said. She did not specify which countries would be singled out in the 2024 report, set to be released this summer. Nearly half of the cases in last year’s report — 1,861 — were of Israeli forces denying aid to children in Gaza. That report came before the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel and the ensuing all-out war in Gaza. The UN has since repeatedly denounced restrictions Israel has put on aid entering the war-torn territory. “As a result of these constraints, children cannot access age-appropriate nutritious food or medical services and have less than two to three liters of water per day,” UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban told the Council. “The consequences have been clear,” Chaiban said, noting that one in three children in northern Gaza under two years old suffer from acute malnutrition, “a figure that has more than doubled in the last two months.” #news #pakistan #israel #gaza #palestine #usa #aid #children #unitednation #statement

The US government just gave the US military $100,000s to deliver 38,000 meals through airdrops over Gaza. Anera delivers over 150,000 meals everyday for a fraction of the cost per meal. With more aid to organizations like Anera and World Central Kitchen who know how to deliver effectively, and more pressure applied on Israel to ease truck deliveries into Gaza, we wouldn’t need to resort to inefficient airdrops. Recently, only 2 of Anera’s 6 “Tekkya” community kitchens operated due to lack of food supplies. We need more support to purchase and ship goods, and more trucks coming in. The capacity is there if there is political will and pressure. The Israeli occupation Administration, COGAT (see Twitter/X: @COGATonline), says “there is no limit to the amount of aid that can come in.” And, indeed, there have been days with max 300 trucks coming into Rafah and max 187 coming into Kerem Shalom/ Karam Abu Salam. So, we could be doing the nearly 500 trucks needed each day and not the current average of fewer than 90 per day. The world’s wealthiest, most powerful, “greatest” nation should not have to resort to (needed, but inefficient and last-resort) airdrops to get life-saving aid in. https://lnkd.in/dRQJYrth The White House National Security Council, The White House USAID USAID - Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance

Cash assistance and cash-for-work programs are common forms of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. As humanitarians, we recognize that this type of assistance is essential in the initial stages of aid delivery. However, three years after the Taliban takeover, international aid remains largely in the emergency phase. We need to progress with the international community toward the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus and focus on sustainability. Therefore, newly designed projects should aim to empower families economically for the long term and stabilize their income generation. Despite the existence of such projects, progress is very slow and needs to be accelerated. Afghan professionals working with international organizations and UN agencies play a crucial role during this transition period. They are capable of effectively communicating with donors and humanitarian organizations, ensuring that local needs and international standards are met. However, while many local people and government officials do not know how to transition from emergency aid to the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus. This underscores the importance of Afghan professionals in guiding this critical shift.

We join the vital call today to resume donor funding to UNRWA given the colossal needs of over two million people in #Gaza, amidst the absolute horrors of on-going war. We also unreservedly support Houses of the Oireachtas via Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland, which has reaffirmed its commitment to sustained UNWRA funding. UNWRA, is the leading provider of aid and protection for six million registered Palestinian refugees living within and outside Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. TODAY IN GAZA, UNRWA IS ENABLING SHEER SURVIVAL. There is no alternative to UNRWA. Expressing deep concern over the funding suspension to UNWRA, Lorraine Marriott, GOAL’s Middle East Regional Director, said, "As the war in Gaza is being pursued unabated, and at the time the International Court of Justice calls for more humanitarian assistance, it is the time to reinforce and not to weaken UNRWA. If the funding remains suspended, UNWRA operations will most likely grind to a halt by end of Feb not only in Gaza but also across the region.” Colin Lee, GOAL’s Prog Operations Director, also spoke out on the suspension of funding to UNWRA, “We must look back to World War II to see comparable cases in terms of the speed, scale, and determination with the enforcement of this siege and the destruction of essential objects and infrastructure to survive. Everyone in Gaza needs immediate, sustained, assistance and protection and UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in the region Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies." https://bit.ly/48aKG9T