Sigrid Kaag Appointed as UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

Kaag to Facilitate and Accelerate Aid Deliveries Amid Severe Humanitarian Crisis

Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert, has been appointed the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza, a role she is expected to start on January 8.
Kaag's appointment follows the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution requesting the expeditious appointment of a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, where more than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water, and medicine.
Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza and establish a UN mechanism to accelerate aid deliveries through states not involved in the conflict.
Kaag's appointment comes as Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis, with the entire population of 2.3 million in food crisis, and 576,000 people at catastrophic or starvation levels.
The Israel-Hamas war has so far killed more than 20,900 people in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.