Forrests in fresh donation for Gaza aid
The latest donation from the Forrests will deliver more than 1.5 million meals into Gaza, and assist in improving water and sanitation in the region.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest has called for other philanthropists to step up their assistance for Gaza, as he and his former wife Nicola donated another $US12.5m ($18.3m) towards aid for the region.
The Forrests’ Minderoo Foundation on Friday said it would donate $US5m to both the World Central Kitchen and the UN World Food Programme, and $US2.5m towards addressing water and sanitation issues across Gaza. It lifts the pair’s total contribution to humanitarian aid in the region over the past year to almost $US28m.
In a statement announcing the latest donations, Dr Forrest urged fellow philanthropists to show more support for the families and children in Gaza.
“Minderoo Foundation will not sit on its hands while children starve to death,” he said.
“We are one of few philanthropies in Australia giving to the humanitarian needs in Gaza. We want to see the philanthropic and private sector respond more strongly to the humanitarian needs in Gaza.”
The support for the World Central Kitchen is expected to deliver more than 1.5 million meals to Gaza.
The water and sanitation funding, Minderoo said, would support the Palestinian Water Authority, UNICEF and other local partners through the purchase of water tankers, solar-powered desalination units, and the installation of sewage pumping systems.
The Forrests have been offering philanthropic support to Gaza since early on in the conflict. Earlier this year, Dr Forrest drove an effort to establish so-called SafeGates to address the checkpoint bottlenecks that had slowed the delivery of aid into Gaza, but failed to secure support for the plan from Israeli authorities.
The Fortescue founder said there needed to be an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, given the humanitarian needs in the area.
“Ever since the unprovoked and completely unjustified attack on Israel by Hamas, Minderoo Foundation has been in direct conversations with aid agencies on the ground to assist those unwittingly caught up in the resulting humanitarian crisis – particularly the children and families of Gaza,” Dr Forrest said.
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