.png?sfvrsn=6d0e27cd_1 "Partnership for Change - v7 (1)")
“What is happening in Gaza is an affront to human dignity and a stain on the world’s collective conscience”, Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair, said “The world has been witnessing starvation unfold in real time, together with the horror of hundreds of people being killed even while they assembled for food aid. The skeletal faces of severely malnourished children—some too weak to cry—are heartbreaking and a devastating indictment of the world’s failure to act”.
“Day after day, there are chilling reports of children dying of hunger and preventable disease, of medical facilities attacked and paralyzed, and of humanitarian workers risking—and losing—their lives as they try to deliver food or medicine. As WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said, the situation in Gaza “…is beyond catastrophic.” According to Dr Tedros, “Since the start of this year, an average of 112 children have been admitted every day for treatment of acute malnutrition.”
“UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell has warned that, “These children are not combatants. They are being killed and maimed as they line up for lifesaving food and medicine.” Russell, further pointed out that, “These severely malnourished children need consistent, supervised treatment, along with safe water and medical care to survive.” Yet, she notes “With clean water increasingly difficult to access, children have little choice but to drink contaminated water. This is increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, with water borne diseases now making up 44 per cent of all healthcare consultations.”
“Gaza has become a place where children are not only dying from bombs and bullets, but also from starvation, and dehydration. This is a global moral failure of staggering proportions. The principle of "leave no one behind"—so often invoked by the international community—rings hollow when applied to the children of Gaza. They have been abandoned.
“A drip feed of aid now will not avert more deaths from starvation and preventable disease. Gaza must be literally flooded with aid. There must be a ceasefire, an end to the blockade, hostage release and prisoner exchange, full, unhindered humanitarian access, and a commitment to negotiate a path to peace”, Helen Clark said.