RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have signed a joint executive programme to collaborate on improving the health of mothers and newborns in the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was finalised on the sidelines of the International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.
The programme is expected to benefit over 48,300 women, girls and newborns. The initiative will focus on rehabilitating and upgrading three healthcare facilities in Gaza that provide emergency maternal and newborn services.
Additionally, three other medical facilities will receive essential medical equipment, and 120 healthcare professionals will undergo training to enhance their skills in delivering safe medical care to mothers and newborns.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry has said that Israel’s war in Gaza, now in its 420th day has killed at least 44,330 Palestinians and left more than 104,933 injured.
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According to the United Nations Population Fund, the escalation in the Gaza Strip is evolving rapidly, with more than half of the population forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge in UN shelters, schools, hospitals, or with relatives.
“UNFPA is critically concerned for women and girls in Gaza, including the estimated 50,000 pregnant women – of whom more than 5,000 are expected to deliver in the next month; these women are cut off from safe delivery services as hospitals come under attack and the health system unravels, with life-saving medicines, fuel and electricity running out,” it says.
UNFPA says in the West Bank, around 73,000 women are currently pregnant, with more than 8,000 expected to give birth in the next month as the violence threatens to spill over.
