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The Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission has made two awards in response to the humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Territories of Palestine following the recent conflict in the region.
On Wednesday 6th August 2014, the Commission agreed to make a donation of £15,000 to Christian Aid to support their work in the region in partnership with the Palestinian Medical Relief Services and the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee. Their focus has been on providing urgently needed treatment for injured people at their mobile clinics and delivering clean safe water and essential hygiene and sanitary supplies to displaced persons.
This donation was made under the Commission's exceptional Disaster Emergency Relief policy as at that stage it was unclear whether the DEC would be in a position to launch a national appeal.
Since agreeing that award, the DEC has announced the launch of a national appeal and the Commission has agreed to make a donation of £35,000 to this appeal.
Like other Islanders, each evening since this conflict began the Commissioners have watched the harrowing footage in every news report and believe that it is right that Guernsey should reach out to assist the innocent victims of the conflict - those injured during the mortar attacks, those who have lost their homes and possessions and left with inadequate shelter and little or no access to clean water and sanitation.
Deputy Mike O'Hara, Commission Chairman, said:
"In agreeing to make these two donations, the Commissioners were very conscious that, as is invariably the position where two countries are at war, it is the innocent bystanders who suffer the most. We have all seen the impact of this latest conflict in Gaza on our television screens and I am sure, like us, Islanders' hearts have reached out to these communities.
The Commission's two donations will make a difference and I am confident that it will be matched by individual donations either to the DEC appeal or to one of the many other appeals that charities, both large and small, have launched to assist the people of Gaza.
I am sure Islanders will support the Commission's decision to make this donation to assist the urgently needed humanitarian aid needed in the region and hope that the current truce will last and lead to a lasting peace."
