Ramallah/PNN/
The European Union and the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) celebrate Ramadan with the most vulnerable Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. They visited Beit al-Ajdad elderly home in Jericho yesterday and scheduled to organise a similar event in Gaza next week. The visits mark the start of the joint Ramadan events for vulnerable Palestinian families.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Iftars could not be organised this year. Instead, around 650 food and hygiene parcels will be distributed to 530 families and 16 care centres and shelters hosting the elderly, orphans and people with disability in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The holy month of Ramadan is the occasion for solidarity towards the Cash Transfer Programme (CTP) beneficiaries who are hit hardest by the pandemic, socially and economically.
In this context, the EU Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff and the Minister of Social Development Ahmad Majdalani visited the Beit Al-Ajdad Elderly home.
Since 2014 the EU, together with MoSD, organises Iftars for the CTP beneficiaries in order to raise awareness of the PEGASE financial support providing social allowances to the poor, vulnerable and marginalised Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the key role of social protection – worldwide and in Palestine – for crisis prevention and recovery.
At the end of the visit, European Union Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff said, “I am pleased to join the Minister of Social Development to visit this elderly home. We are here to show support and solidarity amid truly challenging times. The past year was difficult for all and particularly bad for the most vulnerable.
Our joint efforts with the Palestinian Authority throughout the year but also during Ramadan will hopefully provide some relief to the children, women and men who would otherwise risk being left behind. Team Europe remains committed to supporting the Palestinian people in their quest for health, security, peace, and independence. This is the unified position of Team Europe”.
The EU and the Member States are leading donors in the social protection sector in Palestine.
The EU supports the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), which is responsible for the provision of basic social protection to the most vulnerable families in the West Bank and Gaza through its Cash Transfer Programme (CTP).
In 2020, the EU, with some EU member states, reached a total amount of EUR 185 million disbursed to face address the ongoing crisis, which included payment of salaries, pensions, social allowances and referrals to the East Jerusalem Hospitals.
