Today, more than 134 million people around the world are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
The scale of the problem, and the depth of human suffering, is staggering.
Israel commends the efforts and actions of the United Nations humanitarian response system, working under difficult and often unpredictable circumstances.
The massive need for humanitarian aid has many causes, including natural disasters epidemics and conflicts, with natural disasters, alone, claiming nearly 70,000 lives per year.
It is crucial that Member States, civil society, the private sector, relevant agencies and other humanitarian actors strengthen the coordination of their humanitarian response, in order to better deliver for people around the globe.
Madam President,
In 1958, shortly after its establishment, Israel adopted an official humanitarian aid agenda that has guided the country's international cooperation efforts for the past 60 years. Israel is committed to extending humanitarian aid anytime and anywhere needed.
Over the years, Israel has sent humanitarian relief and assistance to more than 140 countries, saving many thousands of lives. Often Israel is among the first on the scene in the wake of earthquakes, floods, famine and other natural disasters.
MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, is leading Israel’s efforts in assistance and development aid.
MASHAV has the capacity to rapidly organize and dispatch urgently needed supplies and medical assistance wherever and whenever disaster strikes.
Immediately after June’s devastating eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala, MASHAV organized and delivered immediate humanitarian assistance.
Following this year’s earthquake in Papua New Guinea, Israel delivered and installed 40 generators to communities with damaged infrastructure.
After a recent cholera outbreak in Cameroon, MASHAV delivered 10 water purification units to help contain the epidemic.
Each one of these units, which operate without electricity, supplies the daily needs of 500 people. MASHAV has delivered the same units to many other countries.
Israel also built state-of-the-art trauma units in Guinea and Togo earlier this year, and, just as importantly, sent medical personnel to train local healthcare providers in emergency medical techniques.
Building local capacity has been MASHAV’s aim since its inception, and “train-the-trainer” has been MASHAV’s by-word for decades.
Israel has sent search-and-rescue teams around the world following natural disasters. Just last month, Israel’s urban search-and-rescue team passed a demanding international certification assessment, qualifying the team to join the "International Search and Rescue Advisory Group" (INSARAG), an elite global network under the UN umbrella that can be called upon when disaster strikes.
Madam President,
These are only a few recent examples of Israel’s humanitarian assistance – there are many, many others.
Reaching out across borders, giving assistance to people without regard to the country they live in, this is what Member States should aspire to, because seeing each other as individuals, and their needs as individual needs, is the first step toward healing the world on a global scale.
Thank you.