Yaze, a 60-year-old Syrian refugee from Raqaa, sits at home in Amman, Jordan. Living alone in a one-room rooftop apartment with no electricity, no refrigerator and no running water, Yaze has not been in contact with her son, her only living relative, since she fled Syria. Impoverished, she relies on UNHCR cash assistance to pay her rent. ©UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and Qatar Charity (QC) announced a Zakat contribution of US$1 million, as part of QC’s campaign during the Holy month of Ramadan, supporting internally displaced families in Yemen and refugee families in Jordan and Lebanon.
This contribution will support UNHCR’s efforts in alleviating the suffering of 1,851 vulnerable internally displaced families in Yemen, 1,961 vulnerable refugee families in Jordan, and around 3,250 refugee families in Lebanon. The displaced families will receive support in the form of urgent cash assistance, to help them secure their basic needs, such as shelter, food, medicine, and other lifesaving necessities.
“UNHCR is grateful to Qatar Charity for their commitment towards helping some of the most vulnerable displaced families ahead of Ramadan, which comes with additional challenges this year due to COVID-19 pandemic.” said Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner for Refugees for Islamic Philanthropy.
“We are proud of the partnership we have with UNHCR and will continue to work together towards helping the most vulnerable refugees and displaced persons with the much-needed urgent humanitarian assistance, with hopes that it will preserve their dignity and improve their lives during the Holy month of Ramadan,” said Mr. Nawaf al-Hammadi, CEO’s assistant for International Operations and Programs at Qatar Charity.
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, where 20 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. There are more than 4 million displaced Yemenis of which 73% are women and children. UNHCR provides life-saving protection and cash assistance to empower vulnerable families and ensure they meet their basic needs in light of the negative socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. Out of the US$271 million required by UNHCR in 2021 to protect and assist those most affected by the conflict in Yemen, only US$16.1 million has been secured to date (just 6% of the total needs). Urgent support is needed.
The Syrian crisis, on the other hand, is the largest refugee crisis in the world after a decade of its eruption, with more than 5.5 million refugees worldwide, and the vast majority of them live in neighboring countries, exposed to hardships and increasing levels of poverty (70% of refugees live in poverty), and protections risks such as exploitation, child labour and early marriage, etc, especially with the devastating impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
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