CERF allocates US$ 5 million to suppport emergency food assistance in the West Bank
3 April 2008: In the West Bank, Palestinians are subject to stringent closures and restrictions on movement which seriously limit access to services, land, goods and markets and limit potential for economic growth. More than 34 percent of the Palestinian population of the oPt is food insecure with levels rising to almost 40 percent amongst refugees. Rising food and fuel costs have seriously impacted the ability of most Palestinians households to purchase basic food commodities.
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Palestinians have been strongly affected by increases in the cost of basic food commodities and need emergency food assistance
[Photo: UNRWA]
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As a result the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is expanding its food aid in the West Bank to more than twice the number of families it had previously planned for. Through CERF funding it is providing food parcels to 32,600 families containing flour, rice, sugar, sunflower oil, lentils and powdered milk over three months.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is using CERF funding to fill a one and a half month gap in its pipeline of food assistance in the West Bank. The project is benefiting 98,000 Palestinians (a different population than the UNRWA project). The food ration includes wheat flour, chickpeas, oil, sugar and salt. The funding is helping fill a financial gap in a two year operation by WFP.
[Last Update: 23 April 2008]