The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, "UNRWA", in the Gaza Strip, today, Thursday, resumed distributing food aid for the third session to the beneficiaries.
In a statement, UNRWA stated that it is testing the mechanism for delivering food to families in their homes in quarantine areas through its staff, in order to reduce risks to the health and safety of both refugees and staff.
She indicated that all staff are equipped with personal protection equipment and that there will be no physical contact between refugees and staff while they receive food assistance.
It indicated that about 100 families today received their food parcels in full, in a trial process that will continue in the next few days.
"Once we are completely assured that this delicate approach to delivering food aid works towards meeting the stated health goals, we will implement it on a larger scale to deliver food assistance to all who are waiting to receive it," she said.
The Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Matthias Shamali, witnessed the resumption of food operations, commenting, "It was good to note that we are able to deliver food aid to needy refugees in a safe and dignified manner that protects the health of refugees and our staff."
The distribution of food aid was suspended for a short period of time after the local authorities issued instructions to impose restrictions on movement in the Gaza Strip due to the confirmation of locally transmitted cases of the new Corona virus among the population.
UNRWA used this time to plan and implement a home delivery approach that reduces the risk of the virus spreading either to the refugee community or to its staff.
"I hope that all beneficiaries waiting to receive their own food aid will appreciate that we have to strike the right balance between reducing the risk of spreading the virus and getting food to people," Shamali said.
"Taking the time to implement a safe home delivery approach is more responsible than urgency and unintentionally making the situation worse," he added.
He continued: "I extend my deep appreciation and respect to the colleagues who have planned, managed and supported this important process and those who are making the actual delivery."
