Search results for: refugee

Millions of Syrian refugees have been displaced by the violent conflict in their home country and are in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Wednesday morning, our humanist community has raised $9,308 for this crisis.

Tens of thousands of new refugees have crossed from Syria into Iraq, and the IRC is working to provide necessities such as water and sanitation. They place an emphasis on assisting the most vulnerable, including mothers with young children.

Click on the image below for an infographic that explains how the how the Syrian crisis got to where it is now, and who the refugees are. Nearly one-third of Syrians have been displaced from their homes, and half of the refugees are children.

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

As the Syrian civil war rages on, millions of Syrian refugees are displaced and in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Tuesday morning, our humanist community has raised $8,485 for this crisis.

International Rescue Committee works to great a safe space and structure for displaced Syrian children. They are working to ensure that all children in refugee camps have access to education and essential services. This video shows the work they’re doing with refugee children, and the necessity of providing safe, healing spaces for children suffering from trauma.
 

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

As the Syrian civil war rages on, millions of Syrian refugees are displaced and in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief has launched an urgent fund drive in response to the worsening Syrian refugee crisis.

Our staff evaluated several charities working to aid Syrian refugees and selected International Rescue Committee as the beneficiary of our crisis response drive. The IRC is working in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to provide the following assistance:

• In Syria, more than 700,000 vulnerable people have been served to date with medical and emergency supplies. The IRC’s Emergency Response Team is at work in camps for the displaced, providing clean water and sanitation, education to primary students, and emergency supplies to families.
   
• In Jordan, the IRC provides reproductive health care, cash assistance, and social services to refugee families, as well as counseling and other support for survivors of sexual violence. In Jordan’s refugee camps, the IRC is providing technical support for refugee women and girls and helping to reunite children with their families.
   
• In Lebanon, the IRC operates four Women’s Centers for refugees and medical consultations. They are also helping hundreds of refugee families with cash assistance, enabling them to pay for rent, food, utilities, and other essentials.
   
• In Iraq, at the Domiz camp in the north, the IRC provides camp management and a safe space for women. They are also building a secondary school for refugee children. At Al Qaim camp, near the border with Syria, the IRC is providing free legal assistance, mobilizing community groups, and helping survivors of sexual violence.

A unique aspect of the IRC’s work is its emphasis on protecting women and preventing gender-based violence in situations of mass displacement. Click here for the IRC’s latest Syrian crisis updates.

“No matter what the military or political situation is, the human situation is catastrophic. The relief organizations on the ground are doing heroic work, and the humanist community is stepping up to help,” said Dale McGowan, FBB’s executive director.

What you need to know about the Syrian refugee crisis:

• More than 2 million people are now externally displaced and 4.5 million internally displaced by the violence, a total displacement of one-third of the population of Syria. Half are children.
   
• More than 3,500 children currently in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq crossed Syria’s borders unaccompanied or became separated from their families, according to UNICEF.
   
• Half of all Syrians are now in need of humanitarian aid.
   
• 35% of Syrian hospitals are now non-functioning; 70% of medical professionals have fled, according to the WHO.
   
• The scale of this humanitarian disaster is “unparalleled in recent history,” according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Donations to this crisis response drive will be forwarded continuously to the IRC. FBB retains no portion of donations. All donations to and through Foundation Beyond Belief are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Click here to make a donation.

In the PEACE category for the first quarter of 2010, our members are supporting REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL. Refugees International advocates for life-saving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.

Members, don’t forget that you can change your donation amount and distribution at any time by clicking on MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT in the right sidebar. And help us choose the next beneficiary in PEACE by adding your voice to the FBB Forums.

Thanks!

Lindsay Loken
Charitable Giving Coordinator

Beginning Jan 1, the Foundation will highlight ten charitable organizations per quarter. Between now and then, we’ll gradually introduce you to our first slate.

Today we are proud to introduce REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL as our fifth announced beneficiary and the first in the PEACE category for the first quarter of 2010.

Our PEACE category will include organizations advocating for peace, promoting alternatives to violent conflict, or mitigating the suffering and destruction brought on by violent conflict.

Refugees International advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.

Refugee crises left unattended threaten stability around the world. There are 41.9 million refugees and internally displaced people and 12 million stateless people living in limbo without citizenship rights. People forced from their homes by conflict are among the world’s most vulnerable and they all have individual stories of loss, heartache and survival.

Timely responses to refugee crises can increase stability in a region before the conflict spreads across borders. Due to our efforts, abandoned refugees receive food, medicine and education; displaced families return home; peacekeepers are sent to protect displaced people from harm; and stateless people obtain legal status.