#NursesforPeace: Emergency programme to support nurses in Gaza and the West Bank

With the support of Direct Relief, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Association (PNMA) have launched an emergency programme to help provide support to nurses in Gaza and the West Bank, in response to the reports of famine and the high cost of food. This initiative provides direct financial support to over 1,200 nurses.

There are widespread reports that in Gaza, finding food, water and essential supplies for their own survival is a daily struggle for nurses, especially as their nursing duties give them little time to reach aid distribution points, and the lack of income means they cannot purchase items available in the markets. The ICN/PNMA emergency programme will provide nurses in Gaza with direct financial support to purchase essentials like food, water, firewood, and supplies to build makeshift tents.

According to the PNMA, an ICN member association, nurses in Gaza and the West Bank have not been paid their salaries since the beginning of the war yet they continue to care for their patients in both the community and in hospitals. Nurses are facing overwhelming workloads, treating unprecedented numbers of injured, sick and malnourished civilians.

Commenting on the new initiative, Mr. Ibrahim Mahmoud Namoura, President of the PNMA said: “This has created an invaluable feeling among our nurse colleagues that ICN and nurses internationally are standing by them during a time of crisis.”

ICN welcomes donations to its Humanitarian Fund and #NursesforPeace campaign to support nurses on the frontlines of emergency situations throughout the world. Read the latest #NursesforPeace updates to see how ICN is supporting nurses wherever conflicts and disasters arise.