World Bodies Pledge 500 Million Dollars to Palestine
<<   September/2006   >>
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Arts
Movies
Humor
Television
Music

Business
Internet
Finance
Jobs
Investing
Economy

Computers
Software
Hardware
World
Mobile

Games
Video Games
RPGs

Health
Fitness
Medicine
Alternative

Home
Consumers
Cooking

Recreation
Travel
Food
Outdoors

Reference
Psychology
Science
Education

Regional
US
Canada
Europe

Science
NSF
Space
Technology

Society
People
Religion

Sports
Baseball
Soccer
Basketball
 
02/Sep/2006 3:09AM
UN aid chief Jan Egeland, has warned that lack of aid had made Gaza a "time bomb", but following the pledges he warmly welcomed the news, but said a new peace process with Israel was vital.

On Thursday, donors pledged US$940m of help to rebuild Lebanon. But in comparison, donations for the Palestinian territories have been significantly less.

Mr Egeland had earlier told the conference that the Palestinians needed at least as much aid and money as the Lebanese.

This year the US and EU stopped aid to Palestine because of Hamas' refusal to renounce violence and recognise Israel. A limited amount was later re-commenced, but aid workers say it is not enough.

Swedish Aid Minister Carin Jamtin, the conference's host, praised the donors' pledges as "a fantastic result".

She explained that US$55m of the funds would go towards the UN's emergency appeal which was launched last year, although it has struggled to meet its target.

A total of US$114m is scheduled to be spent on humanitarian aid, with the rest going towards the rebuilding of infrastructure and other projects, she told.

Ms Jamtin was quoted as saying that many Arab countries would channel their donations not via the UN but through the Arab League or directly to the Hamas-led Palestinian authorities, according to AP.

She said, “The benefit of giving to the UN is that then we have a system for distributing the money.”

Mr Egeland said, “I hope that this conference here could represent some kind of a rock bottom for how deep we could sink in despair for the Palestinian territories and that we now move forward.”

He had told those attending the meeting that 1.4 million Palestinians were “living in a cage” with border crossings closed and electricity and water shortages.

He added, “It's not only a question of more money... it's also a question of third parties going in and mediating a solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

Israel has been carrying out military operations in the Gaza Strip since Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in June 2006.

One aid worker who returned from Gaza 10 days ago warned in Stockholm that malnutrition was extensive.

In addition, unemployment is high, and in Gaza, the UN says nearly 80 percent of people live in poverty.


Recent news in category
Scottish Executive Launches More AntiSectarian Material for Schools
Tearfund Encourages Churchgoers to See Film Highlighting Climate Change
Koreans Honour Scottish Father of the Bible

Global recent news
Marc Anthony To Pay $2.5 M in Back Taxes
PR no. 13: Basketball Without Borders returns to
Who is ready to make the switch this holiday season?

01/Sep/2006 5:46PM
Following Polands admission to the European Union thousands of Poles were sent abroad making it necessary for Polands Catholic bishops

01/Sep/2006 7:26AM
Middle East Christian Outreach MECO is looking firmly to the future as it celebrates 30 years of successful partnership with churches in the Middle East

01/Sep/2006 7:11AM
The General Secretary of the Bible Society in Lebanon has stated that the ceasefire reached in Lebanon is nothing short of a miracle

01/Sep/2006 4:58AM
The President of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches SPC Pastor Thomas Wipf of Bern a member of the threemember Presidium

01/Sep/2006 4:44AM
Everybodys talking about them Well if theyre not they certainly should be They certainly were when Jesus carried out his miracles

Copyright © 2006 Rootio Ltd. All rights reserved.