DOHA: Qatar TV collected approximately QR28.18m until late evening yesterday in its campaign to support the people of Nepal hit by the recent earthquake. The campaign will continue, Al Sharq reported.
Meanwhile, Qatar has set up a $21m fund for rebuilding universities and schools in Gaza hit by the Israeli aggression, says UNDP special representative Frode Mauring. Besides rebuilding schools destroyed by Israeli bombings a year ago, 131 new classrooms will be added under the scheme.
Addressing a press conference in Gaza, Mauring said UNDP has also received funds for rehabilitation of two gynaecology and obstetrics wings at the Gaza Hospital.
The UN official has called for lifting the siege on Gaza and opening the border crossings to speed up the rehabilitation process.
He stressed the need for changing the mechanism of rehabilitation of Gaza streets. The efforts should not be limited to the UNDP and UNRWA projects, he said.
Talking after one year of the war which destroyed more than 240,000 facilities and about 240 health and educational institutions and left thousands of Palestinians homeless, Mauring lamented the slow progress in rehabilitation works.
It is difficult to implement the rehabilitation programme when the border crossings remain closed making the import of construction material difficult, said Mauring.
The Peninsula
