UK aid delivery of 150 tonnes into Gaza is little more than a sticking plaster on a gaping wound amidst extreme hunger.
Responding to the news that the UK government has delivered 150 tonnes of aid into Gaza, Julia Rosell Jackson, Senior Humanitarian Advocacy Adviser – Women's Rights at ActionAid UK, said:
“Although we welcome the UK’s delivery of aid into Gaza, particularly a much-needed maternity ward, it’s clear that this announcement is little more than a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. The delivery of over 3,000 period products to women and girls will provide small relief, but nearly 700,000 women and girls are unable to access sanitary pads, and many are resorting to using tent scraps as an unsafe and unhygienic alternative.
“When women are giving birth to stillborn babies as they are so severely malnourished amid an acute hunger crisis in northern Gaza and a total collapse of the healthcare system, such a small delivery of aid will do practically nothing to avert the absolute humanitarian crisis facing millions of Palestinians.
“A quarter of Gaza’s population is at risk of famine so it’s extremely disappointing to see that none of the aid mentioned involves food to stave off looming famine. With children die of malnutrition, the Foreign Secretary’s call for a pause will do nothing to deliver aid at the scale needed. As aid workers, we cannot provide effective relief whilst bombs rain down. It’s time for these horrors to end - we need an immediate ceasefire now.”
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Contact the ActionAid press office on uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486.
Julia Rosell Jackson is available as a spokesperson, please contact the press office to arrange.