(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The leaders of the United Nations and the Arab League made an urgent appeal to international donors yesterday to expedite aid promised to the people of Gaza, following last year's war.
In a joint statement, Ban Ki-moon and Nabil Al Arabi expressed their "deep concern" over limited resources to improve the situation in Gaza.
They "urgently appeal to donors to honour and disburse as soon as possible their financial commitments made at the October 2014 Cairo Conference," the statement said.
Those funds include money for UN agencies in Gaza to "prevent a further deterioration in the already dire humanitarian situation."
The international community promised $5.4bn to the Palestinians, half of which is to help rebuild Gaza after devastating Israeli bombing aimed at stopping Hamas rocket attacks in July last year.
The two leaders pointed out reconstruction has been slow in Gaza and aid is necessary to ensure stability for the people.
Short on money, the UN announced in January they had suspended housing financial aid to tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, responsible for distributing much of the aid, has said none of the promised aid had arrived to Gaza.
Qatar made the largest aid promise, a billion dollars, during the Cairo conference.
Washington announced $212m additional aid and the European Union pledged about ‚¬450m at the conference.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.