FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 15, 2009

Contact: Joy Portella, 206-437-7885, jportella@sea.mercycorps.org

- Agencies join forces to bring food, medical supplies and other vital goods to as many as 60,000 civilians

- Access to conflict-battered Gaza remains restricted as resources dwindle

Portland, OR - The global relief and development agency Mercy Corps has partnered with Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), a non-governmental organization based in Qatar, to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The organizations will procure and distribute up to 600 tons of food, medical supplies, blankets, plastic sheeting and other emergency items. Some of these goods will be purchased in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while others will be transported via truck from Egypt. Mercy Corps and ROTA hope that the trucks - as many as 27 total - will enter Gaza this weekend.

"This unique partnership allows us to significantly ramp up our Gaza relief efforts," commented Mercy Corps Regional Program Director David Holdridge. In partnership with ROTA, Mercy Corps plans to reach 60,000 war-affected people in the Gaza Strip with life-saving aid in the coming weeks. Aid efforts will focus on the poor, the elderly and families with young children.

"We are very pleased to work with Mercy Corps to fill the pressing needs of families in the Gaza Strip," said Omnia Nour, Director of ROTA. "This is a telling example of how our two organizations can make a far greater impact working together than separately."

This emergency response is the first major collaboration on relief work between Mercy Corps and ROTA, which in November 2008 signed an agreement to jointly support their shared objectives: access to quality education, and alleviating the suffering of people in communities recovering from disasters, conflicts and economic collapse in the Middle East.

The agreement with ROTA is part of Mercy Corps' broader relief efforts in Gaza. The agency has already sent two truckloads of food into Gaza - enough to feed approximately 4,800 people - and is preparing many more shipments. Mercy Corps has also purchased goods inside of Gaza, and distributed mattresses, pillows, blankets, powdered milk and other goods to hundreds of families in Rafah, Jabaliya, Khan Younis and Gaza City.

Mercy Corps reports that shipping goods into Gaza remains a slow and frustrating process. The agency's two successful food aid shipments have been marked by significant delays, processes and bureaucracy. "It's a short drive from Jerusalem to Gaza; it shouldn't take a week or more for food to get there," explained Holdridge. "We need immediate access for humanitarian aid."

HOW TO HELP: Mercy Corps Gaza Crisis Fund Dept NR PO Box 2669 Portland, OR 97208 www.mercycorps.org 1-800-852-2100

About Mercy Corps Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1.5 billion in assistance to people in 106 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America and Europe, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,500 staff worldwide and reach nearly 16.4 million people in more than 35 countries. www.mercycorps.org

About Reach Out to Asia: Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) is a charity initiative founded in Qatar in 2005 as a center of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. ROTA focuses primarily on community development projects in Asia with specific emphasis on promoting global responsibility for basic, quality primary and secondary education. www.reachouttoasia.qa