(6 March, 2008) Save the Children, a global humanitarian agency which has worked in Gaza for more than 35 years, today called on Israel, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and Hamas in Gaza to take immediate steps to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's 1.5 million people including hundreds of thousands of children.

As the United Nations emergency relief coordinator John Holmes recently noted, medical services in Gaza are deteriorating, private industry has more or less collapsed, and there is increasing poverty and dependence on international aid, which has risen sharply over the past eight months.  Gaza's hospitals lack sufficient beds, drugs, resuscitation devices, needles, and blood to meet the demand and more than 80 percent of the population in Gaza is receiving emergency rations from U.N. agencies as their main source of food. 

Children are among those most at risk. Recent reports indicate there have been an increase in chronic disease and malnutrition among children under five in the Gaza Strip as well as an increase in children suffering from diarrhea, insomnia and anxiety. United Nations emergency relief coordinator John Holmes reported, for example, that rates of anemia and diarrhea among children have skyrocketed by 40 percent and 20 percent respectively over the past year.

The quality and quantity of water in Gaza are also declining, with 40 percent of the population having access to water for only a few hours a day. Some families have even less access to clean water as municipal authorities lack the fuel and spare parts needed to maintain the water delivery infrastructure, which could collapse at anytime.

In addition, sanitation has become a significant health issue. Lack of access to spare parts and fuel needed to operate and maintain the city's sewage pumps and reservoirs means that Gazans have no means of safely disposing of their waste. Some 40 million litres of raw or only partially treated sewage is being pumped into the Mediterranean Sea every day, raising concern among health authorities of outbreaks of communicable diseases and posing long term risks to the environment.

Save the Children's field office in Gaza reports that access issues are hindering its ability to adequately meet women and children's basic needs.  "We cannot fully support children with our protection programs because our staff can no longer obtain permits required to enter Gaza from the West Bank, our vehicles in Gaza do not have any fuel to reach project sites, and the continued violence makes it difficult for parents to allow children to leave their houses," said David Bourns who heads Save the Children's operations in West Bank/Gaza.  "Families are suffering greatly, and the lives of thousands of children are at serious risk," Bourns added.

To respond effectively to the situation in Gaza, Save the Children urges the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the rest of the international community to work with the parties to the conflict to:

*       Establish procedures to manage the crossings and reestablish full humanitarian and commercial access to Gaza. 
*       Enforce the full implementation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, which was announced by Secretary of State Rice in Jerusalem on 15 November, 2005. 
*       Develop a strategy that ensures the protection of children and other civilians in Gaza, while negotiations continue for an end to the violence and a comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

Save the Children also urges the donor community to increase the levels of humanitarian aid in Gaza to reflect the severity of need.