|TOP|US-based humanitarian organisation Lutheran World Relief has boosted funds to global aid alliance Action by Churches Together that will bring vital supplementary food support to families in the Gaza Strip and West Bank areas suffering as a result of the blocks on international funds to the Palestinian Authority.

LWR provided the ACT with an additional US$50,000 towards the provision of relief as well as health and education services that will also be provided through long-time LWR partner the Middle East Council of Churches/Department of Service to Palestine Refugees (MECC/DSPR).

Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005 raising hopes that stability would come to the region. The situation continues to worsen, however, as the United Nations warns of imminent food shortages.

With more refugees likely to fall under the poverty line the number of people dependent on humanitarian aid will rise. Already 750,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip are in need of food and a further 600,000 in the West Bank, according to the UN.

|AD|More than 5,000 families have been earmarked to receive food from LWR’s partners in the region with emergency health services in place to support more than 75,000 people.

Vocational students and schoolchildren will also benefit from emergency educational support in the region, with around half of the recipients of the aid and assistance expected to be children.

After the initial provision of vital goods and services the MECC/DSPR will begin to map out its long-term response focussed on measures that will encourage self-reliance and the development of small businesses.

Lutheran World Relief is a Christian organisation engaged in international relief and development, advocacy and social responsibility in 35 different countries through partners and global relief and development networks.