HAI to launch $4m 'Ramadan Bridge of Charity' in Palestine

Human Appeal International (HAI) has announced that its US$ 4 million dollar 'Bridge of Charity' Programme in Ramadan would be the largest of its kind in Palestine.

The Ramadan food aid programme was unveiled during a meeting held by Yousef Adeis, Palestinian Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs, with heads of zakat committees operating in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The Minister commended the creative initiatives and qualitative programmes being undertaken by the HAI in Palestine, which he said, had left clear hallmarks on the lives of the Palestinian people.

He hailed the relations between the zakat committees and UAE aid agencies as a true partnership, which contributed to identifying the requirements and priorities aimed to alleviate suffering of needy families, the poor, orphans and vulnerable groups in the Palestinian society.

He said that Palestinian Zakat Fund and zakat committees in northern governorates had offered US$ 10 million in support of these poor groups during the period from January to March of the current year.

Ibrahim Rashid, head of HAI's office in the West Bank, said the Bridge of Charity programme would be one of the largest humanitarian campaigns the HAI would implement in Palestine since the launch of its relief operations there 26 years ago.

HAI, he said, has a relief budget of more than US$ 22 million for Palestine as compared to just $ 150,000 when it started work there in 1989.

'The Bridge of Charity programme will cover all Palestinian governorates, but the focus will be on the holy city of Jerusalem,' he noted, adding that 10,000 food parcels, Eid clothing, zakat money and other gifts would be distributed to poor families in the northern and southern governorates.

Rashid presented the HAI's annual report for 2014 to the Palestinian Minister of Waqf and Religious which showed that the UAE aid agency had carried out humanitarian projects worth over US$ 22 million covering relief, developmental, health, educational, social, and economic fields.