GlobalGiving.org: Food and Water for Gaza

CHF Inaugurates New Library in Beit Jala

Natalie Taggart — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:23:34 GMT

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, US Consul General Jacob Walles and USAID Mission Director, Howard Sumka, with CHF Country Director, Lana Abu Hijleh and the Governor of Bethlehem Abdul Fattah Hamayel and the Mayor of Beit Jala, Raji Zidan, celebrated the opening of Beit Jala Public Library with residents of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.

During the opening ceremonies, Dr. Fayyad praised the project saying, “This project helps spread knowledge and education among generations.” He also added, “The implementation of this project within 10 months shows the commitment and dedication of the Beit Jala municipality and CHF to the development process.”

Mr. Jacob Walles, who had attended the cornerstone laying for this project in October 2008, congratulated the Mayor and the residents of Beit Jala, for “This remarkable building and accomplishment. The municipality of Beit Jala and CHF have been great partners for us and USAID in helping implement this project.” Remarking on CHF’s participatory implementation methods, Mr. Walles added, “The other thing that impresses me is that the idea for this library came from the people here in Beit Jala and was developed by the municipality. It’s a very good model of how to do development projects across the West Bank and Gaza.”

The two-story library was built to benefit the more than 10,000 citizens of Beit Jala, including the hundreds of university students who attend nearby Bethlehem University. Aiming to enhance the services provided by local governance structures throughout West Bank and Gaza, CHF’s Local Democratic Reform Program, funded by USAID, invested $300,000 to build this essential cultural and educational facility. Confirming the need for such a facility, the Palestinian Authority, Beit Jala municipality and the local community contributed US$180,000 to make this project possible. Work on the facility began in October 2008, and generated more than 3,000 temporary working days, in addition to six permanent library staff to take care of the book collections and the organization of library-hosted events.

The public library was selected and designed through a joint municipality-community effort, facilitated by CHF International’s office in West Bank/Gaza. Since 2005, CHF’s LDR project has increased the capacity of Palestinian Local Governments Units to better serve their citizenry and to adopt democratic participatory approaches, on both local and national levels.

Gaza Program - Food for Training

Erin Mote — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:30:41 GMT

CHF has been working in the West Bank and Gaza since 1994. Since 2005 we have been blending our expertise with the UN World Food Programme’s resources to provide assistance to the region’s poorest families. The Gaza Strip has experienced intractable instability and conflict for years. CHF’s Food for Work program focuses on the rehabilitation of vital services such as road maintenance, agricultural activities and water system maintenance among others. Workers contribute 20 hours of work in exchange for 120 kg of food including five basic staples. CHF’s work with the World Food Programme has also expanded to cover the three main governorates of the West Bank. The Food for Training program works to ensure that women are adequately represented among those receiving food and aims to ensure that they are the prime recipients of food packages. They receive training that focuses on health, nutrition and income generation activities which gives them the opportunity to help their families and benefits the community as a whole. Since 2004, over 210,000 Palestinians have benefited from food, workforce development and training in the program, enabling them both to feed their families and also gain vocational skills essential to finding employment that will allow them to direct their own lives.

Gaza Update Mid-February

Erin Mote — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:43:21 GMT

Food Distribution

When the fighting ends, the rebuilding begins. Since the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel was declared on January 18, 2009, CHF has continued to aid the citizens of Gaza with food, shelter and other basic necessities.

Date and energy bars, a staple for refugees, have been distributed to over 215,000 people. Food parcels, equally important to survival, have been distributed to around 150,000 people. These supplies provide for adequate nutrition and increase food security for the vulnerable, vastly improving quality of life.

As well as food, CHF has distributed plastic sheeting and tape to hospitals, schools, partner NGOs as well as public individuals. Over 900 rolls of plastic have been allocated to almost 400 hospitals and over 100 schools. Plastic sheeting is a staple of emergency response: it provides increased protection from the elements and allows the activities of these buildings to continue, albeit on a reduced scale. 670 rolls of tape have also been distributed, to permit the benefits of the sheeting to be effectively realized.

CHF is committed to helping the citizens of Gaza rebuild, but it will not happen overnight. These programs will continue in the long term to further assist in the reconstruction process.

CHF in the Palestinian Territories

CHF International is one of the largest implementing agencies in Gaza. Our current programs include a food for work program, implemented jointly with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), through which we provide food baskets of wheat flour, beans and oil in exchange for community service work. CHF International implements a USAID-funded local governance program, working with six municipalities to improve community services and basic infrastructure. CHF International also manages a microfinance program which provides housing and small business loans.

Since 1994, CHF has successfully managed 12 programs in the Palestinian Territories designed to support local democratic reform, infrastructure and emergency job creation, community services, and development finance. CHF’s diversity of programs is testament to the fact that we are a dynamic organization that is able to effectively meet a variety of changing needs. CHF is skilled in implementing programs that bring together a variety of partners and is recognized by multiple funding agencies, Palestinian community leaders, municipality officials, and NGOs for our ability to rapidly respond to needs on the ground and make tangible and lasting improvements.

Voices from Gaza - interviews with CHF staff distributing aid in Gaza

Erin Mote — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:52:38 GMT

Mohammad Sabe, CHF International’s Food Security Program Manager, and Mohsen Ghazali, CHF’s Shelter/Non-Food Items Program Manager, are both based in Gaza City. Sabe is in charge of the distribution of food aid provided by the United Nations World Food Program and other donors to roughly 200,000 non-refugees in the Gaza Strip. Ghazali joined CHF during the conflict to manage the shelter and non-food distribution programs.

During the 22-day Israel-Gaza conflict, they worked continuously with CHF’s Gaza-based staff to distribute a two-month food ration to people in need, as well as emergency non-food items and hundreds of rolls of plastic sheeting.

Now that a ceasefire is in place, both say the real work of supporting thousands of Gazans has to continue, as the war seriously exacerbated an already dire situation coming on the heels of an 18-month Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Here are excerpts of a Feb. 2 conversation with Sabe and Ghazali about their work with CHF in Gaza:

Q: Now that the situation has calmed down, what are CHF’s priorities in Gaza?

A: Mohammad Sabe: The priority now is to distribute the 2,300 parcels of food and other items to five governorates in Gaza. They are intended for internally displaced people that were most affected by the fighting. Thousands of people need not just food, but also basic supplies, such as hygiene kits, candles, warm clothing and blankets – lots of things.

Today we transferred the parcels from the border crossing to five CHF warehouses. Tomorrow we’ll start to distribute them to the people. We expect another shipment of similar items to come in next week which will be distributed to 3,400 families.

Q: Were you doing this work during the conflict?

A: Mohammad Sabe: During the conflict we managed to get food to more than 110,000 people by distributing WFP food aid that was already in our warehouses as well as aid that was brought in during the fighting. We’ve also given out a lot of plastic sheeting.

Q: Plastic sheeting?

A: Mohsen Ghazali: Yes, during the conflict when they would declare a few hours ceasefire we immediately used the time to distribute plastic sheeting to hospitals, individuals, universities and non-governmental organizations. In total we’ve distributed more than 10,000 rolls, in fact. It was the quickest way to weatherize affected shelters and facilities. Still, hundreds of families remain without basic shelter.

Q: Have you started helping people rebuild houses that were damaged or destroyed in the fighting?

A: Mohsen Ghazali: No. This is a huge project that will need a lot of coordination with the UNDP and UNRWA [United Nations Development Program and United Nations Relief and Works Agency]. There are many obstacles, including that Israel has not allowed cement and other building materials to cross the border into Gaza. It will take time before we can begin any serous kind of rebuilding.

Despite these difficulties, we will complete by Feb. 5 an assessment of residential homes that were damaged or destroyed in the fighting. In the next few days, we will be distributing more plastic sheeting to the ones that are partially damaged.

Q: What about rebuilding?

A: Mohsen Ghazali: We’ve hired 34 engineers to assess in greater detail, house by house, what the damages are and what it will take to rebuild. But, to be honest, we’ve been frustrated by the lack of cement and other building materials. Someone suggested bamboo, but there is no bamboo in Gaza. So we’ve changed our design to use wood and plastic and we hope to find sufficient quantities of wood in Gaza to test the model in the most affected areas.

This makes things very difficult at the moment, but we are hoping that cement and other building materials will soon be allowed through the crossing points. In the meantime, we hope to at least construct temporary shelters with plastic sheeting, tarps and wood poles. Some people are using tents, but really tents are not a feasible housing alternative for more than one month.

Q: Are a lot of Palestinians living in tents?

A: Mohammad Sabe: Well, we’re not sure of the exact number. But there are many [tent] camps now. You can see them in East Jabaliya, about 300 tents, and another 300 in Izbet Abed Rabbo. Both areas were severely damaged during the fighting. But we don’t know the exact number. Many people are staying with relatives or host families.

Q: What is the mood of the people now?

A: Mohammad Sabe: People are happy with CHF’s help. We hear this from them all the time. As for the big picture, some people are worried. People who lost their houses are very worried. They are looking for help.

Q: What do people ask for most?

A: Mohsen Ghazali: People ask most for shelter and rebuilding supplies. However rebuilding supplies are the hardest to get in. We have to tell them that there is no cement being allowed in and no building materials available at the moment.

Q: Are you finding that CHF’s efforts are having an impact?

A: Mohammad Sabe: Well, the work is easier than during the conflict, when we took alternative routes to our warehouses to avoid bombing raids and street fighting, and used the 3-hour ceasefires to try to distribute to people in critical need. We didn’t even use the ceasefires to get supplies for our own families.

Now, we’re no longer worried that our warehouses might be damaged or looted. People appreciate what we’ve done during the war and respect our transparent way of selecting the neediest recipients.

But it is still an uphill climb. There isn’t a big sense of security among the people. There are a lot of obstacles to overcome to rebuild what has been destroyed.

Q: Thank you, Mohammad and Mohsen

Links:

Rapid Assessment Details from Gaza

Map of Gaza Activities

Jeff Meer — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:47:39 GMT

This is a map of CHF International's ongoing emergency operations in Gaza.

Attachments:

CHF_International_Gaza_presence.pdf (PDF)

Gaza Situation January 12 and 13

CHF — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:00:12 GMT

Over the weekend, CHF International, the largest provider of food aid in the Gaza Strip, continued to deliver food aid to people in need. On Saturday, during the ceasefire, food parcels were delivered to 579 families in Khan Younis, and 430 families in the Al Shajaia Zone. Sunday’s distribution took place in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Each food parcel provides a 2 month supply of basic stapes including: wheat flour, sugar, salt, pulses and oil for an average household of seven.

Silver Spring, January 13, 2009

CHF International, the biggest food aid distributor in Gaza, has delivered food parcels to over 100,000 people since the conflict began.

In spite of restrictions and transport difficulties, CHF’s Gaza team reaches up to 7000 people each day and supports two bakeries with flour.

On Sunday, food parcels were distributed to 774 families in Khan Younis, then on Monday, 270 families in the Al Shaja’ia neighborhood received food parcels. On Tuesday, 479 families in Al Daraj and Al Shaja’ia were reached. The average family size in the Gaza Strip is seven.

870 rolls of plastic sheeting arrived at CHF’s warehouse in Gaza, to be distributed beginning Wednesday to hospitals, clinics, individuals and partner NGOs. Plastic sheeting is an essential shelter material for the displaced people in Gaza. In addition, 300 metric tons of wheat flour were received on Monday at CHF’s warehouse in Khan Younis, ready for distribution.

Gaza January 8

CHF — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:59:23 GMT

CHF International continued in its role as the biggest distributor of food aid in the Gaza Strip today, bringing essential items to 1400 families during the 1pm-4pm ceasefire. Food parcels were delivered to 870 families in Khan Younis and to 530 families in the Al Zaiton area of Gaza City. Each parcel contains 100kg wheat flour, 8kg pulses, 4kg sugar, 8 liters oil, and 2kg salt and can feed 5-8 persons for a two month period. Both deliveries took place during the ceasefire to ensure safety of movement for distributors and those receiving the food aid. More deliveries were received, bringing the total of food aid to 434 metric tons of flour and 119 metric tones of other food aid. CHF plans to continue distributing food over the weekend to the areas needing it most.

Gaza Jan 7

CHF — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:58:51 GMT

CHF’s team members continued delivery of food aid today, distributing standard food packages to 500 families in the Al Zaiton Zone of Gaza City. The distribution took place during the planned ceasefire between 1:00-4:00 pm. CHF International is the second largest food distributing agency in the Gaza Strip after UNRWA and continues to provide immediate, life-saving, humanitarian assistance for the civilian population in Gaza. Our team plans to distribute an additional 500 packages in the same location tomorrow during the planned ceasefire. The CHF team is coordinating closely with our partner Local Action Committees to facilitate the distribution of food and non food items to the most vulnerable families in each neighborhood. The Local Action Committees currently take the lead role in informing the beneficiaries about the location and time of distributions through word of mouth. CHF is also coordinating with Internews to provide approximately 1,000 hand-cranked radios for households without power or spare batteries for their radios. A Hebron-based radio station will be used to broadcast humanitarian announcements including the locations and times of planned aid distributions.

Gaza Emergency Relief

CHF — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:57:58 GMT

Gaza (January 6, 2009) – CHF International staff members continued delivery of food aid today, distributing food parcels to 700 families in Khan Younes. The CHF team is coordinating closely with our partner Local Action Committees to facilitate the distribution of food and non-food items to the most vulnerable families in each neighborhood.

In coordination with the UN World Food Programme, CHF International is also increasing our distribution network to serve 152,000 beneficiaries with a food basket equivalent to 2,100 kcal per day per person. Approximately 150 tons of canned tuna has been added to the food package, but is currently delayed with other relief items at the border crossing.

The delivery of plastic sheeting, expected to occur today, was also delayed at the border. CHF International is ready to begin distribution immediately upon receipt of the items, which are waiting to be transported via a UN humanitarian relief convoy. Planned distribution points include hospitals and warehouses in Gaza City, Khan Younes, and Yarmouk.

Our team reports that food shortages in the Northern region and parts of Gaza city (Al Zaiton, Jabalia town, Biet Lahia, Al Shaja’ia and Al Tufah) are the most acute. Throughout the Gaza Strip, water pumps and desalination capacities are not functioning properly due to a lack of electrical supplies and fuel to run backup generators.