BEIRUT: An American NGO has been awarded a $600,000 grant by the US government to provide personal hygiene supplies to Gazan families who lost their home during the recent Israeli assault on the enclave. American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) will distribute hygiene kits to 7,400 families - including many children - who are living in temporary shelters in northern and central Gaza, the aid group said.
The kits will include a three-month supply of basic items such as bath towels, shampoo, hand soap, feminine hygiene products and toothbrushes, ANERA said on Wednesday. All of the items will be purchased in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in an effort to support the struggling economy there.
"Gazan families trying to stay healthy in the temporary shelters, especially in the intense summer heat, are dependent on outside help for the most basic supplies," said ANERA President Bill Corcoran. "The hygiene kits can help prevent the potential spread of infectious diseases and other illness caused by poor sanitary conditions," he added.
The Israeli aerial assault and subsequent invasion of Gaza caused extensive damage to infrastructure, destroying water supplies, agriculture and leaving over 50,000 Gazans homeless, causing, in the words of Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner general of UNRWA, a "humanitarian catastrophe." The conflict killed over 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, ten of them soldiers.
ANERA has been working in Gaza for more than two decades. The aid organization has delivered more than $5 million of medical supplies and more than $1.5 million of food packages since January, the group said. It recently delivered 100 hearing aids and other audiology equipment to children in Gaza who were diagnosed with hearing problems. According to an ANERA statement, it provided more than $75 million for programs in Gaza, the Occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan in 2008. - The Daily Star
No comments:
Post a Comment