Dozens of participants – including UN officials, volunteers and residents recently returned from the southern Gaza Strip – took part in the activities in the city center. One participant, a woman in a wheelchair, held up a sign reading “We will rebuild Gaza” to express her support for the campaign.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO network, said the initiative represents “a shared message to the world that the people of Gaza are capable of bringing their city back to life.”
He added that specialized engineering teams working on rubble management have started looking for solutions to deal with more than 60 million tonnes of debris resulting from the destruction of homes and infrastructure, noting that “Today’s volunteer campaign is just the beginning of a long process until Gaza becomes more beautiful than it was. »
Volunteers, NGOs and the UN are involved in the “We will rebuild Gaza” campaign.
Heads of UN agencies also joined the cleanup efforts, reaffirming their support for local initiatives.
Alessandro Marakic, head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said: “we are here with local authorities, civil society organizations and the Chamber of Commerce to start the clean-up operations. What we are seeing today is people returning to their city and regaining some of their dignity by restoring order to the streets.”
He added that the program carries out solid waste collection daily and is currently preparing plans for the winter season to ensure proper water and wastewater management.
The campaign included the deployment of machines and trucks to clear debris from the streets, while dozens of workers and volunteers took part in removing trash and cleaning public spaces, as part of broader efforts to breathe life back into the city after several months of war.
