Anera and Qatar Red Crescent Cooperate on Building Water Network in Gaza
Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) to restore water access to more than 120,000 residents of three neighborhoods of Gaza City that suffer from severe water shortages. The memo of understanding was signed on July 15, 2015. Work is expected to begin early August.
QRC president Dr.Mohammed G. A. Al-Maadid welcomed the collaboration with Anera. “This is a great opportunity to establish a sustaining partnership, which will add a great value to the humanitarian work of both organizations and will maximize the impact of our work for the benefit of suffering people in Gaza.”
The Gaza Water Carrier project will connect 650 homes in Gaza City to a reliable water network. QRC will dig wells and build a main trunk line of nearly two kilometers and Anera will install secondary networks that will bring water directly to homes. Construction of the pipelines should take about eight months to complete.
Anera president Bill Corcoran described the project’s benefits. “We are proud of our first cooperative effort with QRC and pleased that it will help thousands of men, women and children in Gaza where access to water is a daily challenge.”
For more information, please contact Rania Elhelo in Gaza: 9728-282-0329 or Laurie Kassman in Washington, DC 202 257-1221.
About Anera
For more than 47 years, Anera has been a leading provider of development, health, education and employment services to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East. Established in Gaza in 198, Aneras work has ranged from repairing and building water and sewage networks and preschools, delivering vital donated medicines and health supplies, to providing emergency relief during times of crisis. In fiscal year 2014 alone, the US development agency delivered more than $57 million of programs to the people of the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon.
About Qatar Red Crescent
Qatar Red Crescent was established in 1978. In 1981, it gained international recognition from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. During the 2014 Gaza conflict, QRC provided medical and ambulance services, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief, and helped secure water services for more than 200,000 people.