São Paulo – Rio Grande do Sul state should donate 11,500 tonnes of rice to Palestinian refugees. The announcement was made by state governor Tarso Genro (PT) on Sunday (28) during a visit to refugee camp Shufa ‘at, in Jerusalem. According to the United Nations (UN), the donation from Rio Grande do Sul will supply the demand of Palestinian refugees for the whole year and should be distributed in the Palestinian territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank) and in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
The donation was made to the World Food Programme which, in turn, will transfer it to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA). In his address, on Sunday, Genro said that Rio Grande do Sul will have a UN warehouse in Pelotas.
“It is important to come here and see, with your own eyes, the conditions in which these Palestinians are living, in this divided city, in a situation of occupation and annexing. I bring the support – financial and political – of the people I represent, in the hope that this refugee population that has been forgotten may find justice. Eyeing the future, I am working with Brazil’s federal government to open a United Nations warehouse in Pelotas, close to the fields in which rice is produced, aiming at simplifying logistics and future delivery,” said Genro.
The UNRWA executive, Filippo Grandi, stated that the Country is becoming a great supporter of the institution and that the donation “is one more evidence” of this support. Last year, Brazil announced that it would donate US$ 7 million to UNRWA.
Meetings
On Sunday (28), Genro met with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and with agriculture minister Mahmoud Al Habbach. Genro arrived in Palestine on Friday (26) to complete an agenda of meetings up to Sunday, when he headed off to Israel. The governor travelled in the company of a committee of 76 people, including stated representatives, mayors, advisors and secretaries. According to information disclosed by the government of Rio Grande do Sul, the ambassador of Brazil to Palestine, Paulo França, also accompanied the delegation.
*Translated by Mark Ament
