ICRC Starts 'Cash-For-Work' Projects In Gaza Strip

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- To help people in the Gaza Strip cover their essential needs and bring other lasting benefits, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun 'cash-for-work' projects. One of the projects developed is to create and install mural arts such as clay murals, the Geneva-based ICRC said in a statement posted on its website. It said that clay murals were an art form used in Gaza to provide a visual expression of messages intended for the community. The work includes preparing the mixture, plastering the primary layer and laying out and sculpting the final layer with crushed pottery. The ICRC said it started these projects as the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip remained worryingly high at 28 per cent, despite a drop in recent months. Israel's export and import restrictions continued to affect the economy, in spite of improvements over the last year and a half, it said, adding that some sectors of the economy, such as textiles, had literally disappeared over the past years. Last year, the ICRC provided support for the local population of 12,000 impoverished people in the Gaza Strip through a number of 'cash-for-work' projects. It also distributed essential household items to 85 households, comprising 680 people. -- BERNAMA