Australian Aid provides life-saving help to vulnerable communities around the world. Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Australian Government has announced $11 million in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and $15 million in support for those affected by humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Myanmar.
The funding for assistance to Palestine will address grave needs for health care, food and drinking water as the war against Israel approaches its 18th month. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is dire and the Australian Government has restated calls for a continued and unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza.
The government’s calls follow Israeli blockades of aid headed to Gaza, greatly contributing to starvation and malnutrition in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The Israeli policy has resulted in the International Criminal Court charging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant with a range of offences, including the “war crime of starvation as a method of warfare”.
“Australia is engaging diplomatically as part of the international call for all parties to return to the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said. ”We continue to press for the protection of civilians, the release of hostages and unimpeded and sustained humanitarian aid.”
Additional assistance will be provided to other humanitarian crises the government describes as “escalating”.
Some $7 million of vital food assistance will go to refugees of the Rohingya minority group, who are fleeing Myanmar following what the UN describes as massive-scale violence, armed attacks and serious violations of human rights.
Many of the Rohingya have gone to Bangladesh. These communities will also receive assistance, as more than one million Rohingyas in Bangladesh depend on assistance because they have no legal status and no right to work.
“Humanitarian needs have increased twentyfold since the Myanmar coup,” Minister Wong said. ”We call on the military regime to prioritise civilian safety and immediately cease violence and ensure unhindered and safe humanitarian access across the country.”
Some $3 million in assistance in food, health care, shelter and protection will go to displaced people on the Thai-Myanmar border.
An extra $5 million will also be given to enable UN partners to provide services for Afghan women and girls to address vital sexual and reproductive health needs, displacement and gender-based violence.
In 2023, the UN labelled Afghanistan the most repressive country on earth for women as the Taliban regime has imposed draconian rules regarding freedom of movement, education and employment.
Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said: “Protection for women and girls in humanitarian emergencies is a central pillar of the Humanitarian Policy we released in 2024. We know the situation under the Taliban is particularly egregious and we are proud to be supporting the provision of critical health services to Afghan women and girls.”
