UNGEI - Global Section - Partners respond to the Middle East crisis

©UNICEF/HQ06-1040/Brooks

Kawther, 3, cries at a shelter in a government school in the Christian neighbourhood of Achrafieh, Beirut, where her family went after hiding in a bomb shelter for three days in the city’s Dahiya district.

UNGEI partners have been expressing serious concern about civilian casualties and new risks to health from escalating violence in the Middle East. To date, dozens of children have been killed, and many more have been injured. Working in partnership, UNGEI organizations are moving quickly to respond to the immediate and urgent needs of affected children and families in the Middle East.

Organisations have responded by focusing first on meeting the basic needs of children and families displaced by the crisis, and will continue to work in the provision of health services, water and sanitation, psychosocial care and education, with a special focus on ensuring the safety and well-being of children. To help children return to some sense of normalcy and routine, safe play areas are being set up in schools, which will offer educational and play materials.

To learn more about how individual partners are responding to the crisis, see links below.

DFID

UK commits further £2.2 million for Lebanon as continued violence sparks humanitarian crisis in Middle East

IRC

Lebanese Children – Far Away from Home

Oxfam

Oxfam International: Middle East crisis

Oxfam UK: Latest on the situation and Oxfam's response

Save the Children

Children bear the brunt of the crisis in the Middle East

Save the Children Launches $5 Million Appeal to Help Children Affected by Crisis in Middle East

Save the Children USA’s Statement on Middle East: Helping Children Caught in Escalating Middle East Crisis