DUBAI // The delivery of badly needed aid to the people of Gaza is being hampered by obstacles on the ground, including a shortage of materials for homes, schools and hospitals, the Red Crescent Authority said yesterday. In a speech delivered by Mohammed al Zarouni, general manager of the Red Crescent 's Dubai branch, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the RCA, told a major gathering of humanitarian organisations the reconstruction of the war-torn region was one of the world's biggest challenges and urgent action was essential.
"Families are living in the open without food, facing a disastrous humanitarian situation," participants at the opening ceremony of Dubai's sixth annual humanitarian aid and development conference and exhibition were told. "We all must move quickly and remove obstacles using all of our means to avoid the threats facing the people of Gaza. Our responsibility is an international responsibility." Sheikh Hamdan reminded the conference the UAE had provided approximately US$600 million (Dh2.2bn) in aid to victims of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and that aid was being delivered using crossing points in Egypt and Jordan.
The three-day conference, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, is the largest of its kind in the Middle East. It brings together senior officials of local, regional and international humanitarian organisations, NGOs, UN agencies and government departments for a series of workshops, speeches and debates on the theme of "Empowering communities: From disaster to development". Discussions will focus on the world's explosive population growth, the global food crisis, climate change and the impact of the economic crisis on the world's poorest communities.
Organisations such as the World Food Programme use the conference and exhibition not only to address critical issues such as the price of food but also to raise awareness about their work. In Somalia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan alone there are about 25 million people in need of nutritional support, Finbar Curran, the UAE country director for WFP, estimated. Despite a recent drop in food and fuel prices, global food security had not improved. On the positive side, he noted that despite the current economic turmoil governments had been reluctant to cut aid budgets, aware that a shortage of food increases political instability.
Clarence Seedorf, the Suriname-born footballer for the Netherlands and AC Milan, said he hoped to use the conference to increase awareness about Champions for Children, a charity he set up to help disadvantaged children in developing countries. loatway@thenational.ae
