CARE Position on Middle East Quartet Progress

On the
occasion of the meeting of the Middle East Quartet (composed of Russia,
United States, European Union and United Nations) in New York this
week, CARE urges the international community and the parties to the
conflict to take immediate steps to alleviate the deepening
humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. The Quartet identified
2008 as a crucial year for the Middle East peace process and the period
in which to realize agreements made at the Annapolis Conference on
November 22, 2007.

Earlier this year, leading international
humanitarian organizations expressed concern about the humanitarian
crisis in the Middle East and how impediments to movement and access
were inhibiting the delivery of aid and services. Six months later,
access issues continue to hinder CARE's ability to adequately meet
people's basic needs. Other international nongovernmental organizations
report similar difficulties in carrying out their humanitarian and
development projects and operations and also express concerns about the
deterioration in living conditions for ordinary civilians in both Gaza
and the West Bank.

CARE urges the Quartet to redouble its efforts to press all parties to:

• Enforce
  the full implementation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access,
  which was announced by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in
  Jerusalem on November 15, 2005, as a first step toward addressing
  obstacles to access and movement.
• Work with the Israeli
  and Palestinian authorities to ensure security concerns are addressed
  and establish procedures as a first step toward reversing the policy of
  closure, to manage the crossings and restore full humanitarian and
  commercial access to Gaza, including specifically:
  • Access to urgent medical treatment abroad;
  • Essential maintenance and rehabilitation of public services (water, sewage, electricity, public health);
  • Resumption
    of normal fuel imports to enable Gaza's electricity plant to function
    and ambulances and ordinary transport to run; and
  • Ease of movement in and out of Gaza for humanitarian agencies' staffs.
• Agree to a timeline to:
  • Widen the definition of humanitarian goods and needs;
  • Provide greater support for Egypt to negotiate an opening to the Rafah crossing;
  • Secure the opening of Karni crossing; and
  • Reactivate all stalled humanitarian and development projects.