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STORY: GAZA / UNDP ADMINISTRATOR VISIT
TRT: 11:04
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 FEBRUARY 2026, GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE
1. Various shots, exterior, local factory in Gaza City specializing in food production, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
2. Med shot, UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo arriving at one of the UNDP-supported factories
3. Various shots, De Croo inspecting one of the supported factories
4. Various shots, workers at a local food production factory supported by UNDP
5. Various shots, UNDP delegation arriving at one of the main waste dumpsites in central Gaza City, where work is underway to relocate waste away from residential areas
6. Various shots, De Croo inspecting the waste dumpsite known as “Firas” in central Gaza City
7. Various shots of UNDP machinery operating at the waste management site in central Gaza City
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“It is definitely not sufficient and the only ask we have as UN organizations is to have more access. To have more access for three main things and our ask is really on three dimensions. First of all, is give us access so we can remove the debris, and we can remove the waste that we see here. This has a gigantic impact on the life and on the health of people. Second ask that we have is give us access for relief housing. We are capable of building housing which is better than the very rudimentary tents in which people have to live today. The third ask is, give us access with medical equipment to help people with their medical needs and give us the possibility of people who are in acute medical needs to be evacuated out of Gaza. We are here in a place with a gigantic cost on human lives which is human provoked. What we need now is access. This is our only ask. We are capable of doing this. We have the people to do this. We have the financial resources to do this. We have the technical capabilities of doing this. What we need is access. Access for debris removal, access for building rudimentary houses and access for medical help.”
9. Various shots, UNDP delegation leaving dumpsite
10. Various shots, De Croo and the accompanying delegation arriving at a displacement camp in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, east of Gaza City
11. Various shots, De Croo meeting with displaced families and representatives of local organizations
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“You can only be heartbroken to see in the incredible misery that people have to try to survive here. Families with children have to live in one of the biggest human-made tragedies that we see in our times. But also, I see a lot of resilience. I see a lot of willingness of working together between the population of Gaza, civil society organizations and organizations from the UN and NGOs such as UNDP and NGOs. But today we need to move from the talking to the action. We have shown what is possible when people come together and when they start building. Now is the urgent time to move from words to action. And please give us access so that we can provide more of these housing units for people who are in desperate need.”
13. Med shot, De Croo meeting with displaced families and representatives of local organizations
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“But today the difficulty is access and so the demand is not are we capable the demand is not do we have money the demand Is not don't you have the equipment all of these people financing equipment we have what you don't have is access And so my question is how can you deny access for basic housing? It is not to be justified that basic housing would not be provided access to be able to help people who are in dire need.”
15. Various shots, UNDP machinery operating at a site dedicated to recycling rubble from destroyed buildings
16. Various shots, De Croo visiting recycling site
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
“As a UN organization, UNDP, active on the ground, we have one demand, and that demand is give us access so we can help more people. And really, it is in three domains First of all, making sure that we have access to do more debris removal. At the current speed, it will take us seven years to remove all the debris. We can do more and giving us access would definitely help with that. Second demand is, give us more access so that we can continue building this relief housing. This relief housing is a huge step forward towards the very difficult circumstances in which people have to live today. Third demand, give us more access to give medical care. Thousands of people here are in immediate need of help, and we also need to be able to evacuate minimum 20,000 people who are in immediate need of medical support. This is today one of the biggest human catastrophes of our time, and it is unfortunately human made. But it can also be human solved. Give us access so we can provide the solutions that the Palestinians are in dire need of.”
17. Various shots De Croo touring the Rubble and Debris Management Programme site in the Gaza Strip, implemented by UNDP
During his first field visit in his new role as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Alexander De Croo TODAY (16 Feb) stated that UN agencies possess the funding, personnel, and technical capacity required to scale up relief and reconstruction operations in the Gaza Strip but lack the necessary “access” to carry out these tasks.
During his visit to Gaza, De Croo met with displaced families and reviewed projects implemented by the programme, including debris removal and the construction of temporary relief housing.
“Our only request is to be granted access,” De Croo said, explaining that UNDP’s needs are concentrated in three main areas: debris removal; the construction of relief housing to replace makeshift tents; and the entry of medical equipment along with facilitating medical evacuations for critical cases outside the Strip.
He added that at the current pace, debris removal could take approximately seven years to complete, noting that improved access would significantly accelerate the process. “We have the financial resources, we have the technical capacities, and we have the qualified personnel. What we need now is access,” he said.
The UN official described the situation in Gaza as “one of the largest humanitarian catastrophes of our time,” stressing that thousands urgently require medical care, and that at least 20,000 people need immediate medical evacuation.
De Croo stated that the relief housing constructed by the programme represents “an important step forward” compared to the conditions families are currently enduring in temporary tents. He emphasized that cooperation between local residents, civil society organizations, and UN agencies has demonstrated that tangible progress is possible when the right conditions are in place.
“We have proven that joint work delivers results. Now it is time to move from words to action,” he said.
He concluded by stating that the crisis “is man-made, and it can be resolved through human will,” reiterating his call to grant UN agencies full access in order to expand the humanitarian response and provide more sustainable solutions for the affected population.
