Welthungerhilfe Expands Survival Aid for Gaza
Despite major bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions for humanitarian aid workers, Welthungerhilfe and partner organisations will expand their aid and support more than 50,000 people in the most affected areas of the Gaza Strip.
Bonn/Berlin, September 5, 2024. As the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, Welthungerhilfe is increasing its support on the ground. More than 90 percent of the population has been displaced so far, with people having to flee again and again in order to find protection from the ongoing fighting. Designated safe zones in the Gaza Strip are changing daily. Due to their progressive shrinking, the zones have become very crowded, most recently reaching a density of more than 30,000 people per square kilometer. At the same time, access to people in need is increasingly hampered by bureaucratic hurdles and security requirements. As a result, fewer relief supplies than ever reached the area this July.
“It is safe to say that there is currently no other region in crisis where it is more difficult to provide humanitarian aid. Each truck can expect to wait for weeks to cross the border, warehouses and distribution points for aid supplies often have to be vacated due to changing evacuation orders, and safe access routes are regularly restricted. Humanitarian workers are constantly at risk of attack. Despite these difficulties, we will continue to support the people in need,” states Mathias Mogge, the secretary general of Welthungerhilfe.
Together with our European partner CESVI and the local organization Juzoor, we will support more than 50,000 people in the most affected areas. The targeted distribution of vital food supplies, dietary supplements for malnourished children, and hygiene supplies provides displaced people, who often seek refuge in makeshift shelters and community centers, with what they need to survive. The main focus is on children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and older people who are exposed to a high risk of malnutrition due to poor conditions of care. Cooperation with our partners already proved its worth in the first phase of humanitarian assistance. All aid supplies are purchased in Egypt or Jordan and then transported to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah or Kerem Shalom border crossings.
In their work, Welthungerhilfe and its partners strictly adhere to the humanitarian principles of neutrality, humanity, impartiality, and independence. Welthungerhilfe condemns the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in the strongest terms and calls for the immediate release of all remaining hostages. At the same time, it calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, for the protection of the civilian population and humanitarian workers, and for safe and unhindered access to be provided for the needed aid supplies as quickly as possible.
Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany; it is politically independent and non-denominational. With courage and determination, it is striving for a world without hunger. Since it was founded on December 14, in 1962, 12,128 overseas projects in about 72 countries have been supported with 5.07 billion euros. Welthungerhilfe follows the principle of empowering people to help themselves to sustainably improve their living conditions, through approaches reaching from fast disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organizations.
