Austcare responds in Gaza

Last updated: 27 January 2009
 

Following three weeks of heavy conflict in Gaza, Austcare and ActionAid have deployed a senior emergency project team to help local partners provide humanitarian relief to meet the immediate needs of affected people in Gaza.

Over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, with 5000 more injured, since the beginning of January. Thousands of residential buildings have been destroyed during the fighting along with water and sanitation facilities, hospitals, health clinics and power plants.

The destruction has left an estimated 18,000 people in Gaza homeless, with limited access to food, running water and power for the whole population.

Austcare and ActionAid, in collaboration with local partners and UN agencies, are now working to provide non-food relief items such as plastic sheeting for temporary shelter, hygiene kits and candles. Plans are also underway to build temporary shelters and community centres as well as provide psycho-social support to those traumatised by the conflict.

Emergency relief, however, is not just about providing food, shelter and medical care. In order to mitigate the effect of the conflict, Austcare and ActionAid will concentrate efforts on facilitating longer-term livelihood activities so people can make decisions about what they need most for their recovery and to assist in rebuilding their lives

 

More on Austcare and ActionAid's response in Gaza:

- Q&A with Nichola Krey, Austcare’s Director in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza

- Real Lives: Latifa’s story

- Letter from Austcare Chief Executive Officer Archie Law

- ActionAid statement on Gaza