We are trying to convey to the world the silent anguish of the new poor among the Palestinians, Qureshi said. This is the longest time the borders have been closed and the resultant economic downturn in the Territories is staggering. Direct economic losses because of the closures are estimated at 50 percent of the gross domestic product. The effects on the people are devastating, continued Qureshi. The unemployment rate, for example, went from 11 percent to 38 percent last year.
People are seeing all prospects, all hope for the future melt away.
Last November, under an immediate response strategy, WFP drew on its emergency food reserve to distribute a one-month supply of wheat flour to 13,000 families badly affected by the crisis. Now, the food aid agency is urgently seeking funds for the three-month emergency operation since donor response to the appeal, first announced late last year, was weak. WFP, for the last three years, has been running an ongoing social welfare programme for some 100,000 Palestinians who constitute the worst hardship cases in the Territories. Widows, divorced women, the disabled, mentally handicapped and the physically ill, they have neither earning power of their own nor a family member who has an income. About 3,700 farmers will get help with land rehabilitation in order to make their farms start producing again, and women with little education will get training in health, nutrition and agricultural activities.