CNA – The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has sent a staff member to Egyptian capital Cairo to coordinate and facilitate desperately needed humanitarian supplies into war-torn Gaza.
The charity is working with its counterpart on the ground, the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), to channel aid through the Rafah border crossing.
Group director and dean of the SRC Academy Sahari Ani which provides first aid training and education workshops, arrived in Cairo last week amid a humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war.
He told CNA’s Singapore Tonight that he is tasked with helping to identify the immediate and critical needs in Gaza, and to facilitate the availability of relief supplies.
“We (the SRC) are committed to contribute to the relief pipeline through the procurement of urgently-needed essential items,” he said.
“Working in Cairo allows us to have first-hand updates of the ground situation and (our partners’) operations, allowing us to respond quickly to address the evolving needs on the ground.”
The ERC’s headquarters in Cairo is the nerve centre and command post for coordinating and monitoring the aid operation into Gaza.
Earlier this week, the SRC said it is sending USD200,000 (SGD273,000) worth of relief supplies to victims of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The aid package includes medicine, hygiene kits, clean water, food provisions and equipment such as wheelchairs.
