Australia’s leading charities this morning united to launch a joint Middle East Appeal aimed at raising millions of dollars in aid for people in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank who are facing an escalating humanitarian crisis in the wake of the military action launched in the region in early March.
According to the latest numbers from The International Organisation for Migration, in Lebanon alone almost one million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the conflict.
There are also significant people movements in neighbouring countries such as war-torn Syria, which now has growing strain on its limited resources. And the situation remains dire in Gaza, with aid cut off at the outset of the renewed conflict, severing access to food, clean water, fuel and medical supplies.
The 15 charities behind the joint Middle East Appeal are: Save the Children Australia, Plan International Australia, Oxfam Australia, Australia for UNHCR, ActionAid, CARE Australia, Caritas Australia, ADRA, Act for Peace, Anglican Overseas Aid, Australian Lutheran World Service, Baptist World Aid, CBM, ChildFund Australia and Tearfund.
EAA members stand ready to expand the number of countries involved in this Joint Appeal as the humanitarian needs and responding members become clearer.
The appeal is also endorsed by the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) involved in international development and humanitarian action.
Executive Director of the Emergency Action Alliance (EAA), Kerren Morris, says many Australians watching the humanitarian crisis escalate in the Middle East want to find ways to help.
“This appeal gives us a way to help provide real aid on the ground in the Middle East,” Morris said. “Australians have watched the images of the escalating crisis in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere and desperately want to find ways to help. This appeal brings together many of Australia’s leading charities and gives people a tangible and trustworthy way to provide aid on the ground.”
“In recent weeks we’ve all learned where the Strait of Hormuz is. We’ve seen how connected our economies and supply chains are to what happens in the Middle East. But we are not just connected by trade routes and shipping lanes — we’re connected as families and communities too,” said Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International Australia and Chair of the Emergency Action Alliance.
“I know Australians are dealing with a lot right now — concerns at home, floods, the rising cost of living. I understand that. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about this country, it’s that when things get tough, we don’t turn inward. We look out for each other. We lend a hand. We donate what we can. We take in or look after a stranger, just as many of our friends in the region have done for Australians stranded by world events.
“What’s missing from so much of the current discourse is the human story. Behind every headline, behind every military escalation, there are families — mothers, fathers, children — who are scared and scarred by what they’ve lived through. Nearly a million people in Lebanon alone have been forced from their homes. In Gaza, people are cut off from food, water and medical care. In Syria, communities already shattered by years of war are being pushed to breaking point.
“War is devastating. It doesn’t discriminate. And the people caught in it need our help now.”
“ACFID welcomes the launch of this Emergency Action Alliance appeal. As needs escalate across the region, coordinated humanitarian action is more important than ever. This appeal offers Australians a trusted way to support communities in crisis,” said Matthew Maury, CEO of ACFID.
