Helping Refugees in the Middle East

IRAQ

ADRA Kurdistan is active in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kurdistan, Iraq. When many people fled, they could take little or nothing with them. The tents the IDPs live in the camp are cold, and people were in need of winter clothing. Thanks to generous donors, ADRA Kurdistan was able to distribute warm winter clothing to more than 10,000 people.

LEBANON

There are more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Around half of these are children.

Refugee children have lost not only their homes, but also their schools. ADRA’s Lebanon Education Assistance for Refugee Needs (LEARN) allows Syrian children to resume their education and integrate into the local school system. It also offers psychosocial activities to children suffering from trauma, and hosts events to bring together host and refugee communities.

SYRIA

With millions of people currently displaced in Syria, many are in need of safe shelter. ADRA Syria has launched a project to provide internally displaced persons (IDPs) with adequate, safe shelter solutions. ADRA will primarily use a private shelter upgrade approach to house IDP individuals and families. This approach involves identifying existing unfinished buildings, and providing basic materials and construction works to make them suitable for habitation. This is preferred over emergency shelter solutions, as they better approximate normal living conditions. ADRA will also install water tanks.

Due to the communal living conditions, IDPs need to exercise new hygiene practices in order to avoid the quick spread of disease in such tight quarters. ADRA will promote critical basic hygiene practices among project beneficiaries, including teaching techniques to purify water for drinking.

Miriam is a 64-year-old grandmother. Her husband and two sons were killed during the conflict, and her two other sons are missing. Miriam is left with her daughters-in-law and 18 grandchildren. When the crisis reached their farm, they left everything and fled. They moved into a school which was functioning as a shelter, with 35 people living in one classroom. People had to take turns to sleep, and most parents stayed up all night to allow space for their children to lie down and sleep. Miriam and her family lived like this for 2.5 years. Then ADRA Syria arrived with the shelter intervention. Now all 183 families (approximately 915 people) that were living in the school have a separate safe, clean room, improved toilet facilities, and hot water.

YEMEN

Ongoing conflict in Yemen has resulted in a critical humanitarian situation affecting up to 80% of the population, with over 20 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. There are an estimated 2.3 million IDPs, most of whom are sheltering with similarly vulnerable host families.

ADRA Yemen’s community development center serves as a hub for refugee services and community gatherings. The Support for Urban Refugees projects improves the capacity of refugees to organize themselves and advocate for their rights. Through training and courses refugees are empowered to become financially independent and integrate into Yemeni society.

Another ADRA Yemen project focuses on emergency water delivery until existing water systems can be repaired. Hygiene promotion and access to hygiene products are also priorities. ADRA Yemen also has projects delivering life-saving health and nutrition interventions.

For successful resettlement of the returnee families and the restoration of vulnerable households whose livelihoods were affected throughout the conflict, recovery of livelihoods is key. ADRA’s objective is to restore livelihoods of vulnerable returnee and conflict affected households, while rehabilitating the agricultural livelihoods of vulnerable returnee and conflict-affected households.

Your support is reaching refugees and others in need around the world. Thank you for your prayers and your contributions.