16 January 2024
USG Michaud spent two days in Gaza this week, to meet our UNDSS team and get a first-hand sense of the situation for UN colleagues and operations.
With famine approaching, a near-complete breakdown of health systems, sparse access to clean water, and over 1.8 million people displaced from their homes, demands on the UN to deliver are astronomical. The delivery of the small amount of aid permitted into Gaza is deeply complicated - by ongoing military operations, challenges with deconfliction, restrictions on the importation of essential security equipment into Gaza, and an increasingly desperate population.
The USG heard universal praise for the UNDSS team in Gaza. Representatives of the UN and NGOs all spoke about the outstanding support they receive from the UNDSS team, notably our Palestinian colleagues whose resilience, skills, dedication, and humanity give a glimmer of hope at a time when it is in short supply.
He had the opportunity to meet the families of some UNDSS colleagues in Gaza, to better understand the conditions in which they are forced to live, and shared with them his gratitude, and his pride in our team.