CAIRO: The Arab League on Monday called for urgent relief to address the dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and Sudan, and the disaster because of torrents and floods in the Yemeni governorates of Hodeidah and Hajjah.
In a statement, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector of the Arab League, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, warned that the risk of a poliovirus outbreak in the Gaza Strip could put the lives of thousands of children in danger, stressing the urgent need to support the Palestinian Ministry of Health with vaccinations to confront the spread of this epidemic, and also to allow medical teams to move freely inside Gaza to administer vaccines.
Abu Ghazaleh reiterated the Arab League’s support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and praised its efforts despite all the pressures it is subjected to by the occupying power to obstruct its work within the Gaza Strip. She called on all international parties and donor nations to provide basic support to the UN agency.
She said that about 25.6 million people in Sudan, more than half the population were facing severe hunger, with over 755,000 people on the verge of famine. She noted that relief workers still face major challenges in providing humanitarian aid, because of the ongoing conflict and insecurity in the country.
Abu Ghazaleh said that the collapse of the health sector in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict has led to the spread of many epidemics and diseases, the latest of which is the outbreak of cholera in many areas, amid an acute shortage of vaccinations. She called on the World Health Organization (WHO) and all parties to promptly provide the basic vaccines to limit the spread of this deadly epidemic.
Meanwhile, she said that the General Secretariat received an urgent relief appeal from the Republic of Yemen this month to provide relief to those affected by the torrents and floods that hit the governorates of Hodeida and Hajjah. She urged regional and international partners and international and humanitarian organizations to support the efforts of the Yemeni government to confront this disaster.
