The head of OCHA warns from Madrid that aid reaching Gaza is insufficient and regrets that Israel has been very ‘critical’ of his work and of the UN
A few months ago, at a center for malnourished children in the remote Darfur region of Sudan, an orphaned baby who had arrived days earlier on the brink of death gripped Tom Fletcher’s finger with surprising strength. The United Nations’ humanitarian chief says those seconds eased his frustration at international inaction and the “anger” he feels over cuts to aid at a time when needs and conflicts are rising around the world.
“The U.N. plan to save 87 million lives costs less than half of what Wall Street spends on bonuses and less than the world spends on pet toys or games online,” the 51-year-old British official said in an interview with EL PAÍS in Madrid, where he met government officials and took part in Spain’s Fifth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy.
The head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also regretted that life in Gaza —one of his top priorities — has not improved since the ceasefire that took effect in October, and criticized the insufficient levels of humanitarian aid to provide food, shelter and healthcare to its two million residents. “We are stuck,” he laments.
