Last week, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s MASHAV Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Israeli Embassy in Canberra and the Australasian Jewish Medical Federation organised a delegation of Australian doctors to be sent to Fiji to provide free health screening and surgery for dozens of children.
The medical professionals treated up to 50 children whose ENT (ear-nose-throat) conditions cannot be treated by Fijian doctors. The delegation, which has been working closely with Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services, was welcomed by local Fijians at Nausori International Airport waving Israeli flags. The new non-resident Israeli Ambassador to Fiji, Tibor Schlosser, has since presented his credentials to the Fijian President, and following his arrival, Fiji and Israel signed an agricultural memorandum of understanding.
This is the most recent in a series of humanitarian efforts that Israel has assisted in. Other endeavours have included sending a 220-person team to Haiti after the damaging earthquake in 2010. Israel has been actively working to improve global access to areas such as health, education, as well as trying to eliminate gender-based violence.
Both of the above aid missions have been in conjunction with IsraAID, an Israeli based humanitarian charity that responds to crises and engages in international development work around the world.
Amongst the many other operations that IsraAID and the Israeli Foreign Ministry have carried out include providing aid teams in Peru to support flood victims, as well as assisting with relief efforts in the Mediterranean Sea following the European migrant crisis and rescuing and treating victims of the devastating Himalayan earthquake in 2015.
