Hot Meal Distribution to Displaced Families in Al-Zawayda

Hot Meal Distribution to Displaced Families in Al-Zawayda

A hot meal for families with no kitchen, no fuel, and nothing to cook

50 hot meals (chicken and rice trays) for displaced families at USD 10 per meal

At the height of the displacement wave from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, families arrived at shelter areas with no kitchen, no cooking equipment, and no fuel, amid acute food shortages and soaring prices. In exactly these conditions, a ready hot meal becomes the fastest and most appropriate response: it arrives ready to eat and requires no stove, no gas, and no clean water to prepare.

In response, the Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE) distributed hot meals to displaced families in the Al-Zawayda area of the Middle Governorate, supported by ANERA, on 27 April 2024.

The Intervention in Numbers

• 50 hot meals chicken and rice trays, ready to eat
• 50 displaced beneficiary families in the Al-Zawayda area, Middle Governorate
• USD 10 per meal a total in-kind contribution of USD 500
• Direct implementation by SAFE field teams, from preparation through to handover

Why Hot Meals?

Because they close a gap that food baskets cannot. A displaced family with no stove, no fuel, and no cookware cannot make use of raw food commodities, however available they are. A ready meal removes that barrier entirely and delivers a complete protein-based meal — chicken with rice — in a context where animal protein is scarce and hard to obtain.

SAFE's Role

SAFE managed every stage of the intervention: identifying beneficiary families against need-based criteria, arranging meal preparation and ensuring food quality and safety, and organising field distribution in a way that preserved families' dignity and ensured meals arrived hot and on time.

Partnership Translated into a Meal

This intervention reflects the value of partnership with international humanitarian organisations: support from ANERA enabled a rapid, targeted response at a moment of acute need. It forms part of a series of SAFE interventions in Al-Zawayda supporting families displaced from the north, which also included the distribution of fresh vegetable parcels.

For ten dollars, a displaced family received a complete hot meal. Sometimes the simplest response is the most effective one.