The
United Nations is
playing an important
humanitarian role in
two areas of the
Middle East affecting
the livelihood of
hundreds of thousands
of people.
Gaza
Crisis
The
United Nations agency
tasked with helping
Palestinian refugees
warned that it may
have to halt its food
distribution and other
key operations inside
the Gaza Strip if the
closures continue at
the crossing points
into Gaza.
Karen
AbuZayd,
Commissioner-General
of the UN Relief and
Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (UNRWA),
said the agency is about
to run out of its own
fuel supplies in one
more day.
The
agency will not be able
to continue its food
support programs to an
estimated 860,000
residents of Gaza past
Wednesday if it does not
have the fuel to
transport the food or
the nylon bags needed
for distribution.
"We're
very worried and almost
frightened, I would say,
about what's going on.
We're about to run out
of our own supplies -
our own fuel and our own
plastic bags in order to
distribute our food.
We've had to help some
of the local hospitals,
especially the pediatric
hospital, with fuel.
We've had to give fuel
to our health centers
because everything in
Gaza is running on
generators now."
Ms.
AbuZayd said she was
particularly concerned
about the health of the
sick and the most needy
within the Gaza Strip.
Ms.
AbuZayd's remarks come
just days after
Secretary-General issued
a statement
voicing concern over
Israel's decision to
close the crossing
points into Gaza that
are used to transport
supplies and warning of
the potential
humanitarian
consequences.
Iraq
Stability
Meanwhile,
the UN's Special
Representative in Iraq
called on the
international community
to seize the opportunity
offered by recent
security and political
improvements in Iraq to
push ahead with
stabilization and
reconciliation efforts.
Staffan
de Mistura, Special
Representative of the
Secretary-General and
Head of the United
Nations Assistance
Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), reported
to the Security Council
progress across the
board - Security,
Economic and Political -
in his first appearance
before the Council in
New York on Monday.
"The
risks and challenges are
not lost on us; we are
neither immune nor
oblivious. But this is
the time, if any, to be
proactive, where
positive momentum
has been gained,"
he said in presenting
Mr. Ban's latest UNAMI
report.
In
his speech to the
Council, Mr. de Mistura
stressed that the Iraqi
Government cannot be
left alone to tackle the
structural, political
and security challenges
it faces. "It
requires the commitment
of the United Nations,
the unremitting
assistance of the
international community
and the constructive
re-engagement of its
neighbors," he
said.
*
Watch
video
of the Security
Council session
on the situation in
the Middle
East.
*Watch
video of
a press briefing
with Mr. Staffan de
Mistura, Special
Representative and
Head of the United
Nations Assistance
Mission for Iraq.
*
Read
about
the largest
emergency
humanitarian
appeal from OCHA
for the
Palestinians.
