Tag: starvation

Statement on humanitarian aid to Gaza

Joint statement on behalf of 26 humanitarian partners on aid to Gaza and the proposal for a new aid delivery model

Joint statement:

“Whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza’s people must receive the aid they desperately need.  

“Prior to the aid block, the UN and humanitarian NGOs delivered aid into Gaza, working with great courage, at the risk of their lives and in the face of major access challenges imposed by Israel. These organisations subscribe to upholding humanitarian principles, operating independently, with neutrality, impartiality and humanity. They have the logistical capacity, expertise and operational coverage to deliver assistance across Gaza to those who need it most.  

“Israel’s security cabinet has reportedly approved a new model for delivering aid into Gaza, which the UN and our humanitarian partners cannot support. They are clear that they will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles. Humanitarian principles matter for every conflict around the world and should be applied consistently in every warzone.

“The UN has raised concerns that the proposed model cannot deliver aid effectively, at the speed and scale required. It places beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermines the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners, and links humanitarian aid to political and military objectives.  Humanitarian aid should never be politicised, and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change.  

“As humanitarian donors, we have two straightforward messages for the Government of Israel: allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity.

“We remain committed to meeting the acute needs we see in Gaza. We also reiterate our firm message that Hamas must immediately release all remaining hostages and allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference.

“It is our firm conviction that an immediate return to a ceasefire and working towards the implementation of a two-state solution are the only way to bring peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long-term stability for the whole region.”

This statement has been signed by:

  • The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. 
  • The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management and the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean.

UK Government: ‘Israel – lift the block on aid entering Gaza NOW’

Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer made a statement to the House of Commons on Gaza Yesterday

Mr Speaker,

Yesterday, alongside partners, the UK convened a meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the intolerable civilian suffering and humanitarian need in Gaza.

As I told this House yesterday, Israel’s denial of aid is appalling. 

Tonnes of food are currently sitting rotting at the Gaza/Israel border, blocked from reaching people who are starving.

Israeli Ministers have said Israel’s decision to block this aid is a “pressure lever”.

This is cruel and it is indefensible.

Overnight yet more Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes.

This must end.

The message yesterday was clear.

The world wants Israel to stop and change course immediately.

With our allies we are telling the Government of Israel:  lift the block on aid entering Gaza now. Enable the UN and all humanitarians to save lives, now. We need an immediate ceasefire, now.

Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool or military tactic. And the UK will not support any aid mechanism that seeks to deliver political or military objectives or puts vulnerable civilians at risk.

The International Court of Justice case on genocide is ongoing. Mr Speaker, We support the ICJ. We support its independence.

The ICJ issued a set of provisional measures in this case and we support those measures.

Israel has an obligation to implement them.

It is the UK government’s long-standing position that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent court, and not for governments or non-judicial bodies.

The UK is fully committed to upholding our responsibilities under domestic and international law.

And we have at all times acted in a manner consistent with our legal obligations, including under the Genocide Convention.

The devastation from this conflict must end.

Our complete focus is on lifting Israeli restrictions on aid, On freeing the hostages held by Hamas, On protecting civilians, And on restoring the ceasefire.

We will work urgently with our allies and partners on further pressure to make Israel change course.

NAMED: Three British aid workers killed by Israel in Gaza air strike

The three British aid workers killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza have been named. John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were among seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers killed in Monday’s strike.

The other victims were Australian, Polish, Palestinian and a US-Canadian citizen. The charity has paused its operations in Gaza, where there are growing concerns of mass starvation.

In a statement , World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said: “These are the heroes of WCK. These 7 beautiful souls were killed by the IDF in a strike as they were returning from a full day’s mission. Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories.”

wck.org/news/honoring-gaza-team

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night.

He said he was appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals, in an airstrike in Gaza yesterday and demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into what happened. 

The Prime Minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable. The UK expects to see immediate action by Israel to end restrictions on humanitarian aid, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks. 

The Prime Minister reiterated that Israel’s rightful aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Mr Natanyahu’s response is not recorded, but he is yet to make a public apology for the killings. Meanwhile, the slaughter continues unabated and 1.7 million Palestinians face starvation.

“This is unconscionable – but it is an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted.” – @antonioguterres on airstrike that killed aid workers in Gaza.

196 humanitarians, including 175 UN staff, have been killed since October.

https://un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2024-04-02/secretary-generals-remarks-the-informal-plenary-meeting-of-the-general-assembly-human-security-delivered

Largest UK aid delivery enters Gaza to feed 275,000 people

UK funding to World Food Programme supports major aid delivery in Gaza via Jordanian land corridor

The UK’s largest delivery of aid to Gaza has crossed the border and is being distributed by the United Nations to families in need, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed. 

More than 2,000 tonnes of food aid, funded by the government, is being distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) on the ground. 

This adds to the 150 tonnes of UK funded relief items including blankets and tents, which arrived last Wednesday 13 March, and will be distributed by UNICEF. A full UK field hospital run by UK-Med has also arrived in Gaza and is now operational and providing life-saving care.

The delivery includes fortified wheat flour for use in bakeries, hot meals and well as Ready To Eat (RTE) food parcels. The food parcels will be used to feed more than 275,000 people in Gaza. Each food parcel is designed for family of five and consists of canned vegetables, meat and fish, and date bars. The parcel can meet half of the daily calorie needs of the family for 15 days.  

This comes in the week that a report from Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip and the south faces a risk of famine if conditions continue to worsen.  

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “It’s crucial that we keep the flow of aid moving into Gaza to end the suffering, and that’s why this latest delivery of aid by WFP is so vitally important.

“The IPC’s report warns of imminent famine. We need sustained humanitarian access by road to get more aid in. We continue to push Israel to allow more crossings to open and for longer, and for healthcare, water and sanitation to be restored.”

Since the opening of the corridor in December 2023, the Government of Jordan, with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, has worked to ensure the passage of almost 600 trucks of humanitarian assistance into Gaza carrying 8,000 tons of relief and food items. 

Humanitarian assistance from 10 different international aid agencies – including from UK partners WFP and UNICEF – has reached Gaza. 

The latest delivery was again facilitated by Jordan, who have been instrumental in supporting the UK’s humanitarian response.

The UK is committed to ensuring aid reaches those who need it most, as Palestinians continue to face a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary has been clear that Israel must increase capacity to safely distribute aid within Gaza.

This includes opening a land crossing in the north and issuing more visas to UN staff who are capable of delivering aid when it arrives in Gaza.

Emergency appeal launched to help children on the brink of starvation

International school feeding charity Mary’s Meals is asking for urgent support in response to the spiralling hunger crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region 

Mary’s Meals has launched an emergency appeal to deliver urgent food aid to children in Ethiopia who are on the brink of starvation. 

The current situation in Ethiopia is dire. A combination of drought, displacement, and brutal conflict has left huge areas of the country in crisis. Having lived through the atrocities of the Tigray War, millions of Ethiopians are facing emergency levels of food insecurity and hunger. 

The most recent assessment of food security needs from the Government of Ethiopia projected that 15.8 million people in the East African country will face hunger and need food assistance in 2024. This includes more than four million internally displaced people and 7.2 million experiencing high levels of food insecurity and needing emergency help1. 

International school feeding charity Mary’s Meals has been working in Ethiopia since 2017 and feeds 24,320 children every school day. With its local partner, it provides daily school meals to marginalised and disadvantaged children in the impoverished Tigray region in the north-east of the country, close to the Eritrean border. 

The Tigray region is one of the worst affected by the hunger crisis. According to the BBC, 200,000 children in Tigray have left school in the last three months alone2, with many of them working, begging or scavenging for food to survive. 

During the civil war, Mary’s Meals provided community feeding programmes to 30,000 people while schools were closed and families were displaced. 

Following the ceasefire agreement in November 2022 and the re-opening of schools, Mary’s Meals has now fully reinstated its school feeding programme across Tigray. This is bringing hungry children back into education and providing a lifeline to them and their families living in extreme poverty in these challenging days.  

But with an estimated 7.6 million children in Ethiopia out of school because of the conflict and climate shocks3, it is critical that the programme is extended to attract more children into the classroom where they will be given energy to learn and the hope of a brighter future. 

Now, there is an urgent dual priority – ensuring that children in Tigray have food and boosting their chances of engaging with education again. 

Matt Barlow, Executive Director of Mary’s Meals, says: “The stories we are hearing from our partner in Ethiopia are simply devastating. 

“The two-year civil war has caused widespread destruction and left physical and mental scars on people all over Tigray, including children – many of whom have missed years of schooling and who are now starving. The war has undone years of progress in Tigray’s education system and we know the impact of children missing years of learning is huge. 

“With your support, we can bring these hungry children back to the classroom and give them a nutritious meal which will allow them to focus on their lessons and give them an education. Ultimately this will help to lift them, their families and communities out of the extreme poverty they are living in”. 

As funds allow, Mary’s Meals’ partner is ready and waiting to extend its feeding programme to more schools, in areas of great need across the region. They will work together to reach as many more children as possible with daily meals in school over the coming weeks and months. 

Matt continues: “The situation is urgent. But there is something you can do. You can help to bring these desperate children back from the brink of starvation. 

“Throughout the UK, I have witnessed people respond with incredible acts of kindness in moments of crisis and when all hope may seem lost.

“Now, we need your support. Please donate what you can today – even the smallest donation can help to save a life.” 

To find out more about the Mary’s Meals Crisis in Ethiopia appeal, please visit www.marysmeals.org.uk/campaigns/crisis-in-ethiopia 

UK releases new emergency aid to help over 1.3 m vulnerable people

  • New UN data reveals humanitarian crises are worsening around the world, with 235 million people expected to be in need of urgent assistance compared to 175 million people at the start of 2020.
  • The UK is releasing an extra £47 million of aid to immediately provide food, nutrition, water and shelter for vulnerable families in nine countries and regions.
  • The UK is also lobbying international donors to provide more funding and working to ensure conflict parties allow humanitarian access for aid workers and ensure the protection of civilians.

The UK is releasing new emergency aid to help over 1.3 million vulnerable people in some of the world’s most dangerous places, who face daily threats of starvation, conflict and coronavirus.

Life-saving food, nutrition, water, childhood vaccinations and shelter will urgently help families caught in some of the largest humanitarian crises, including across the Sahel, Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Mozambique.

Humanitarian crises are getting worse according to UN data published earlier this month, compounded by the pandemic, with 235 million people expected to be in need of urgent assistance next year compared to 175 million people at the start of 2020.

The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)’s survey also shows that there are people in South Sudan and Yemen living in famine-like conditions today.

In September the Foreign Secretary announced a Call to Action to prevent famine, and appointed Nick Dyer as the UK Special Envoy on Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs to drive this effort. Today’s extra aid announcement forms part of the UK’s continued leadership on addressing this global crisis.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Hundreds of millions of people living in the world’s largest humanitarian crises are struggling to survive, threatened by conflict, starvation and coronavirus.

“This extra emergency UK aid will mean people can feed their families and prevent these crises from escalating into widespread famine. We hope to see other donors step up to the plate with some extra funding to prevent these global crises getting worse.”

The extra UK aid announced today will help continue momentum and pressure other donors to step up with additional financing.

The UK has been sounding the alarm on this growing threat to millions of lives – with the dire situation in conflict and fragile states being exacerbated by economic recession, coronavirus and climate change. This is rapidly increasing the number of people in desperate need and more people than ever are going hungry.

The UK is combining its humanitarian expertise with its diplomatic power to build back stronger from coronavirus. We are using our seat on the UN Security Council to call for life-saving humanitarian access for everyone who needs it and hold countries to account on their international legal obligations to allow aid workers to operate impartially in conflict zones and support the protection of civilians.