The Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) together with the Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana (MYO) and the Guyana Islamic Trust today presented President Irfaan Ali with a cheque totaling $110.8M for the people of Palestine. 

Since October 2023, more than 34,000 people – most of them women and children – have been killed in Gaza as Israel wages war on Hamas. The funds, which will be handed over to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will assist in providing humanitarian relief for the people of Palestine. 

President Ali, during the handing over ceremony at the Office of the President, said the funds were raised through the support of Guyanese from all walks of life, and is an indication of the country’s united stance on the maintenance of global peace and the advancement of human race. 

He said Guyana will continue to champion the rights of the Palestinian people.

“We will continue to work with global partners to ensure that the people of Palestine get what they deserve, and what they deserve is to live in peace, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and they deserve to live in a land in which women and children are not killed and bombed on a daily basis. They ask for nothing more, and they deserve nothing less,” President Ali said. 

The President also said the country will continue to support the global effort to bring peace to the people of Palestine, and support all efforts in allowing Israel to understand that its actions are not in keeping with the UN Charter and the stability of the region. 

“This is, as we would have said, is a brutal attack, and we also as a country support every effort to build a safe society, a society in which any act of terror, any act that seeks to destabilize, any act that seeks to weaken the fabric of society, we condemn equally,” President Ali said. 

Director of CIOG – Shaik Moeenul Hack said the fundraising initiative was launched by the President, and on the culmination of the holy month of Ramadan 2024, approximately $110.8M in humanitarian aid was raised for the people

“Guyanese from various strata of society once again demonstrated their characteristic generosity through their donations and after 27^th night through transfers to a special GBTI account. The overwhelming support forced an extension of the period for donations to be made. The funds raised will be handed over to His Excellency, then would be delivered to the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency for Palestinian refugees to assist those affected by the ongoing war,” he said. 

Hack said the Islamic community believes that what continues to unfold in Gaza is nothing short of genocide, and the continued war has been particularly difficult for all members of the Muslim community.

UN Resident Coordinator Yesim Oruc was among officials present at the handing over ceremony. 

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