Middle East conflict – How you can help children affected – 25 October 2024
HOW YOU CAN HELP CHILDREN AFFECTED IN GAZA, LEBANON, AND THE WIDER REDION, SAYS THE DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE.
Over the past year, conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives across the region, and millions have fled their homes in search of safety. Right now, millions of people across Gaza, Lebanon and the wider region are in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care.
Photo credit: Majdi Fathi/Christian Aid – Gaza
Meet Zainab and Nour, siblings in Lebanon forced to flee their home
Zainab*, nine, and Nour*, six, fled with their family from their home in the south of Lebanon, and now stay in a school that acts as a shelter.
Like many in Lebanon, the siblings miss their home and toys, but the community in the shelter means they can play football with other children. Support staff make sure they have food, water, clothing, mattresses and blankets.
Photo credit: Hicham Najem (World Vision) Lebanon
Zainab* and Nour* fled from their homes and are staying in a school
Yousef dreams of returning to school
Yousef* is ten years old and lives in the north of Gaza. He was happy until conflict forced him and his family to move south, and he thinks fondly of his home and the family shop, both of which have been bombed.
“My house is never far from my mind, and the shop and all of the north of Gaza, I can’t forget,” he says. He has dreams of moving abroad and returning to school, but currently experiences health difficulties due to poor living conditions.
Photo credit: Wattan Media Network/ActionAid
Yousef* misses the home he left behind
Darine’s family and pets take refuge
Darine* and her two children live in temporary shelter in Gaza after being displaced, along with their cat and cockatoo.
Her daughter Fatima*, 11, carries on with her hobby of making bracelets and sharing them with friends, but her brother Hassan*, six, struggles and misses his home and toys. Like many forced to leave their homes, he finds adapting to the change very hard.
Photo credit: Majdi Fathi (Christian Aid) Gaza
Fatima* and her mother, brother, cat and cockatoo are living in a temporary shelter
In numbers
- In Gaza, 1.9 million people are displaced. That’s more than 90% of the population.
- 86% of people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat.
- In Lebanon, more than a million people are displaced, around 20% of the population.
- Hundreds of thousands of people have already been reached by help from DEC member charities.
What help is being provided?
DEC member charities and their local partners are working around the clock in Gaza and Lebanon to distribute essential aid and meet people’s most basic needs. This includes:
- Providing hot meals, dry goods and baskets of fresh foods.
- Distributing clean drinking water and hygiene kits.
- Supporting field hospitals and medical clinics.
- Supplying shelter support, such as tents, shade covers and tarpaulins.
- Offering cash vouchers, so that people can buy the essential items they need.
- Providing psychological support and setting up child-friendly spaces.
What can you do?
- You can fundraise at home and at school. Activities like bake sales are always popular, and every donation goes a long way.
- £10 could provide blankets for two people, to keep them warm.
- £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.
- £100 could provide emergency shelter for five families.
To find out more about supporting the DEC, please visit dec.org.uk/fundraise-for-us.
Photo credit: Majdi Fathi/Christian Aid
*Names have been changed to protect identities
