POVERTY: Gaza and the blockade

Here are some of the key humanitarian challenges facing the people of Gaza and the relief agencies that work there as a result of the Israeli blockade.
FOOD
Over three quarters of Gaza's population is food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity, relying heavily on aid subsidies, according to a report by the World Food Programme and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), published in November last year. The report said the population of Gaza was being sustained at "the most basic or minimum humanitarian standard."
Food security exists when all people, at all time, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food insecurity exists when this access is jeopardised.
Food price inflation, a deterioration or destruction of livelihoods and the population's increasing inability to cope with the difficult circumstances all contribute to food insecurity in Gaza, the report said.
Restrictions on imports and exports, and increased restricted access to agricultural and fishing areas, further undermine Palestinians' access to food, leaving many dependent on food aid. Overall, food insecurity affects 61 percent of households in Gaza while an additional 16 percent are considered vulnerable to food insecurity, the WFP/FAO report added. Only 23 percent of households in the Gaza Strip are considered marginally secure and food secure.
The report found that 71 percent of people in the Gaza Strip said they received humanitarian assistance with the rest saying they did not receive any aid.
AGRICULTURE AND FISHING
Restricted imports of livestock, seeds and seedlings, plastic piping, iron bars for animal shelters, water pumps, filters and irrigation pipes, fishing nets, engine spare parts, veterinary drugs and cement are decimating Gaza's agriculture and fishing industries.
Israel bars the imports of building materials including steel, cement and pipes, saying Hamas could use them to manufacture weapons.
Farmers have been unable to rebuild agricultural land or vital roads because of a lack of construction materials like concrete and heavy equipment. Goods imported via tunnels from Egypt are often sold at inflated prices that most Palestinians cannot afford.
As of June 2009, 46 percent of agricultural land in Gaza was assessed as inaccessible or out of production because of destruction caused during Operation 'Cast Lead' or because the land is inside a no-go area along the northern and eastern borders with Israel, according to a report by EUNIDA for the European Commission last year.
Restricted access to fishing grounds has depleted catches and revenues. "The fact that this coastal population now imports fish from Israel and through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border speaks to the absurdity of the situation," the Association of International Development Agencies said in a recent statement.
Gaza's waste water treatment infrastructure also needs upgrading to avoid the contamination of agricultural land and to create an alternative source of water for irrigation.
RECONSTRUCTION
Operation 'Cast Lead' caused some $268 million in damages, according to the United Nations. Israeli bombardments caused huge damage to already depleted infrastructure. Restrictions on imports of cement, other building materials and heavy lifting equipment are hampering efforts to rebuild vital roads, health and education services and power supplies.
POWER CUTS
Electricity shortages mean Gaza's population experiences rolling blackouts of up to 12 hours every day, according to an OCHA report, exacerbating the already difficult living conditions. Gaza's sole power plant, the Gaza Power Plant, is able to produce only half the electricity that it did prior to January 2010, due to a lack of funds to buy the industrial fuel needed to run the plant.
Hospitals and clinics often have to rely on back-up generators that are not designed to function for long periods and are often damaged as a result.
HEALTH
Many specialised treatments, such as for complex heart surgery and certain types of cancer, are not available in Gaza and patients are referred for treatment to hospitals outside the territory. But many patients have had their applications for exit permits denied or delayed by Israeli authorities and have missed their appointments. Some have died while waiting for referral, the World Health Organisation said in a January statement.
There are often shortages of key supplies and drugs. Delays of up to three months occur on imports of certain types of medical equipment, such as X‐ray machines and electronic devices. Clinical staff frequently lack the medical equipment they need while medical devices are often broken, missing spare parts or out of date, the WHO added.
Furthermore, health professionals in Gaza are cut off from the outside word and few receive training to update their skills and knowledge.
Rising unemployment and poverty - 42 percent of Gaza's workforce was unemployed in the first quarter of 2009 and 70 percent of the families were living on an income of less than one dollar a day per person in May 2008, according to OCHA - is likely to have long term adverse effects on the physical and mental health of the population, WHO said.
Other health problems include malnutrition, wasting and underweight children and aneamia.
The lack of building materials is affecting essential health facilities: the new surgical wing in Gaza's main Shifa hospital has remained unfinished since 2006. Hospitals and primary care facilities, damaged during operation 'Cast Lead', have not been rebuilt because construction materials are not allowed into Gaza.
POVERTY
A poverty survey carried out by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) showed that the number of refugees living in abject poverty since the onset of the blockade in 2007 has tripled. UNRWA found that 300,000 Palestine refugees live in conditions of abject poverty, from 100,000 in 2007. These families are completely unable to secure access to food and lack the means to purchase even the most basic items such as soap, school stationary and safe drinking water.
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/55076/2010/05/1-141115-1.htm