New York - Gaza: Europe and the Arabs
Sikhrid Kach, the United Nations Senior Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, said that progress continues on the path to operating the UN mechanism to enhance relief access to the Strip. She stated that rebuilding Gaza is a “very difficult task,” but the international community has a “duty and responsibility” to work to achieve this.
In an interview with UN News in New York, Ms. Kach said that the Palestinians in Gaza enjoy a great deal of resilience, but they need massive support to rebuild their lives. While noting her awareness that the situation in Gaza is fundamentally linked to progress on the political front and the two-state solution, she said: “We cannot ask civilians to wait. Life goes on and people have suffered a lot.”
During her fourth visit to the Gaza Strip a few days ago, the veteran diplomat said she was "deeply affected by all the stories of suffering" she heard. She added that she draws inspiration from the commitment of Palestinian NGOs working on the ground. Kach stressed the need for Palestinian civil society, along with the Palestinian Authority, to be “at the forefront,” calling for “the development and nurturing of civil society’s tremendous courage and determination.” The United Nations media website quoted Sikhrid Kach as saying: The purpose of my visit was to meet people, talk to them, learn as much as possible about the challenges and issues, and to consider how to make progress. It also came to support all humanitarian colleagues who work day after day in Gaza. What I saw, in the different parts of Gaza that we passed through during this visit - and this was my fourth visit - was widespread devastation. I spoke with people and listened to them about how they are affected by the situation, the losses they have suffered and their traumas, and how they are coping under the extremely miserable, almost inhumane, conditions in which the majority of Gazans live.
This comes after Sikhrid Kach, the United Nations Chief Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, stressed the necessity of making a qualitative shift in humanitarian efforts to ensure that the enormous needs of the civilian population in Gaza continue to be met safely. It announced that the international mechanism stipulated in a Security Council resolution would begin operating within days.
This came as part of Kach's review before the Security Council of progress on the implementation of Council Resolution No. 2720, pursuant to which her position was created. Sikhrid Kach said that effective humanitarian operations cannot be limited to counting the number of trucks entering with aid.
She added: “This is a false measure to measure whether the assistance is sufficient, let alone whether it meets basic humanitarian needs. For example, children or pregnant women with malnutrition will not be enough to simply eat more calories, because they need therapeutic foods and nutritional supplements in addition to Long-term medical care.
Kach announced that the United Nations mechanism for Gaza, included in Security Council Resolution 2720, will begin work in the coming days. She said that the mechanism will be applied in the first stage on the two roads coming from Cyprus and Jordan, and that technical consultations will be completed soon with Egypt regarding the Egyptian road.
The mechanism, as stated in the Council resolution, aims to expedite the provision of humanitarian relief shipments to Gaza by states that are not parties to the conflict in order to expedite, simplify and expedite the provision of aid.
During the past months, the UN official presented detailed proposals and discussed them with the governments of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Cyprus to facilitate and accelerate the delivery of supplies to Gaza and ensure the continuous flow of goods for safe distribution throughout the Strip.
The UN official stressed the importance of ensuring the ability of humanitarian agencies to transport food, medicine, and other supplies safely through all possible roads and crossings into Gaza and all parts of the Strip. She spoke about the pivotal role played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in providing life-saving aid and basic social services, especially in education and health, to Palestine refugees. She said: “UNRWA cannot be replaced or dispensed with as a humanitarian lifeline, and must be allowed to implement its mandate.”