Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The UN’s World Food Programme has the resources to end starvation in Gaza only if it gets security guarantees, the group’s executive director Cindy McCain told The National on Thursday.
“We have food supplies at the border and will be able to scale up to feed 2.2 million people across Gaza. But we must have security guarantees and sustained access to deliver safely,” Ms McCain said in an exclusive interview.
Food supplies in the Gaza Strip have drastically decreased following Israel’s war on the enclave that began on October 7, after Hamas raided southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's bombardment and ground invasion since then has killed more than 28,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
Aid workers have reported visible signs of starvation in the northern and central areas of Gaza, but experts say conditions across the enclave, where disease ravages overcrowded camps of the displaced, could prove as deadly as the fighting.
Aid convoys are also being denied entry into the north meaning civilians could be going without food for days.
Ms McCain said the WFP was only able to get in five aid convoys to the northern areas of the enclave since the start of the year.
“This is nowhere near enough for a crisis of this magnitude,” she said.
The WFP was able to assist nearly one million people in Gaza in January but “it’s still far below the frequency and quantity of aid that’s necessary”, she said.
The UN estimates 300,000 people are still living in northern areas that are largely cut off from assistance, and face a growing risk of famine.
All of the more than two million people living in the strip face severe hunger, Ms McCain said.
The solutions would be the unhindered entrance of humanitarian aid and for the private sector to play a role, she added. More “entry points for aid and for safe passage and distribution throughout Gaza” were needed, she said.
Ms McCain stressed that humanitarian work is limited by the “insufficient number of border crossings and the multi-layered vetting process for trucks at the checkpoints”.
Also, once the aid is through “efforts to set up service points are hampered by bombardments and constantly shifting battle fronts”, she said.
This not only endangers the lives of civilians in Gaza but also the UN and other humanitarian aid workers aiming to help them through the crisis.
The food agency has had to find new ways of operating with local partners, including finding safe sites for distribution, channelling wheat flour into bakeries so that they can resume production and distributing special food supplements to help children fight off malnutrition.
It has been providing food for Gazans since the start of the war.
Funding shortfall
The WFP is requesting $314 million in funding for Palestine that will ensure their operations keep running until the end of April. Otherwise, their humanitarian operations will be on the brink of collapse.
“WFP is being forced to drastically cut the size and scope of food, cash and nutrition programmes in around half of its operations because of a major drop in funding,” Ms McCain said.
Before the war started, severe funding shortfalls forced the agency “to suspend assistance for 60 per cent of WFP food aid recipients in Palestine, leaving only 150,000 people receiving reduced rations”, she said.
In the long run, this will lead to the WFP “only helping the hungriest people, which is in turn more expensive and potentially dangerous to the health of millions”, she said.
Ms McCain praised Gulf states for their co-operation with the WFP, particularly in supporting those affected in conflict and disaster zones.
“The GCC leaders and partners have been steadfast supporters and have helped the WFP to continue responding to emergencies, and to support and empower the most vulnerable populations quickly and efficiently,” she said.
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
- Vogue Fitness
- Sweat
- Bodytree Studio
- The Hot House
- The Room
- Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
- Cryo
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
