The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a donation of US$50,000 from the Mexican International Cooperation Fund for Development to support WFP Operation Lifeline Gaza.
The donation comes from the Mexican International Cooperation Fund for Development, which was created following a 2006 agreement between the League of Arab States and the Mexican Government to promote Arab-Mexican relations. The contribution will help WFP provide urgently needed food assistance to 365,000 civilians in Gaza, including 50,000 schoolchildren in some 85 schools.
WFP is also planning to start a food voucher operation in Gaza which will enable thousands of Palestinians to access food directly from small and medium-sized traders in Gaza. The project will improve people’s access to food, while at the same time providing a financial stimulus to the local economy.
The recent conflict in Gaza has created new vulnerable groups - families that were previously self-reliant are now completely dependent on assistance having lost their entire savings, homes and productive assets when hostilities erupted in the region at the end of last year.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
