Urgent food assistance for the most vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19 lockdown in Gaza Strip This urgent humanitarian action aims to contribute to enhancing food security of most vulnerable households impacted by COVID-19 lockdown in the Gaza Strip, and is designed based on the primary need assessment conducted by IRPAL in august/sept. 2020, with particular focus on labor within the informal sector (including small farmers, fishermen, schools bus drivers, restaurants/stall owners/stall workers and industry workers/small shops/street hawkers) who have lost their jobs and main source of income as a result of the economic lockdown forced by COVID-19. Islamic Relief will reach the most vulnerable households that lack economic access to food with urgently needed humanitarian assistance to improve immediate access to food, through the provision of food vouchers to 1,300 HHs, 46% form Gaza North and 54% from Gaza governorate, (7,410 individuals: 2,223 men, 2,223 women, 1,482 boys, 1,482 girls) over 3 months. The exact number of HHs in each community was calculated proportional to the number of Covid-19 cases at each community.
The targeted HHs will receive food support through the e-vouchers modality which give the flexibility and freedom of choices so they can prioritize food items as per their specific needs and preferences.
IRPAL and the partner will prepare essential and alternative distribution plans to be used in case of any mobility restrictions for some targeted areas. Also, protective measures will be considered for the distribution places, and personnel.
The project will be implemented by Islamic relief in cooperation with local partner (Gaza Culture and Development Group, GCDG) who have long experience in the field of food security, and has already conducte several projects targeting farmers, small and medium agricultural enterprises, youth, women, and other vulnerable categories in different geographical areas with particular experience in Gaza and North governorates. GCDG have implemented several projects in food security including distributing food parcels and food vouchers for orphans and poor families, funded by several partners including Welfare (Al.Taawon) Association, Danish Muslim Aid, OPEC, Bank of Palestine and others.  

The following is a list of key activities showing roles of each party (in brackets)
- Finalize the selection of beneficiaries (IRPAL and GCDG)
- Sign special amendment for the cooperation agreement with World Food Program (WFP) regarding the use the E-Vouchers system and transfer payments. (IRPAL and WFP)
- Conduct rapid orientation and communication with beneficiaries and provide necessary information using the suitable tools: phones, SMS. WhatsApp, etc. (IRPAL and GCDG)
- Issue three rounds of financial topping-up for E-Vouchers for 1,300 HH (avg. 70 $ per HH) for three months. (IRPAL, through WFP e-vouchers system)
- Conduct post distribution monitoring (PDM) after each distribution round and issue monitoring report focusing on beneficiaries’ satisfaction (IRPAL and GCDG)
- Conduct administrative and financial closure (IRPAL and GCDG)
This rapid intervention will contribute and complement the efforts of IR and other humanitarian and UN actors (UNRWA and WFP) in covering the food security gap among the affected groups of labor within the informal sector, and their family member including children, elderly, people with disabilities and women.
IRPAL is ready to start the implementation as soon the project agreement is signed, especially that the detailed beneficiaries’ data is available from the needs assessment, the lists of potential BNFs have already been cross-checked with MoSD, MOL, and WFP so the final list of targeted HHs will be available very soon (end of October), and also the agreement with WFP is active which includes agreements with 194 retailer shops, and also the local partners are available and already oriented. So, IRPAL has the necessary operational capacity with best utilizing the value for money (highest level of economy, efficiency and effectiveness)