#GiveForFood
For people, families and communities around the world, the holy month of Ramadan is a time of empathy, togetherness and solidarity. This Ramadan, UNRWA asks you to think of the more than 1 million Palestine refugees across the region who need help to meet their basic food requirements. Crises like the blockade of the Gaza Strip, more than three years of devastating conflict in Syria, or simply years of chronic poverty mean that they need our support. Join UNRWA and Give for Food. Until the end of Ramadan, we hope to raise US$ 100,000 to provide for these vulnerable Palestine refugees. Help break their fast this Ramadan.
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Give for food today and help feed Palestine refugees. |
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Poverty campaign_Empty Stomachs |
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Abu Ahmad and Um Ahmad are having a hard time getting enough food for their children. They are among the more than 20,000 Palestine refugees in the West Bank who – because of poverty and food insecurity – depend on the UNRWA social safety net programme to meet their basic needs. Only 2.4 per cent of West Bank refugees receive this kind of assistance, but for them, it’s a lifeline. Watch this video to learn more about the challenges they face every day. WATCH ON YOUTUBE |
What makes Palestine refugees poor? |
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"Today, more than 1 million Palestine refugees - about one fifth of the total population - need help to meet their basic food needs. Watch this video to learn more about the different causes of this problem and the different ways we try to help. All of our efforts - from school-feeding programmes to cash-for-work opportunities - need your support. Watch on YouTube |
Students in Syria: Simple Needs and Hopeful Dreams |
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"One morning, I went out to buy some food while my father was at work", says Mohamed, a teenage Palestine refugee from Yarmouk camp, in Syria. "By the time I returned home, a missile had hit. My mother and two of my sisters were killed instantly. My two other sisters were injured"... In Yarmouk, once the centre of Palestinian life in Syria, four years of sustained conflict have had a dire impact on residents, including young Palestine refugees like Mohamed and other students who attended UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. They suffered violence like that which killed Mohamed's family. Read More |
Vocational Education: A Gateway for Palestinian Youth Dreams |
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In Lebanon, where their economic conditions frequently hold them back from educational attainment and other opportunities, Palestine refugee youth cling to every ray of hope. Their living conditions motivate them to seize every opportunity that they can, to work hard and to give back to help their family and their community. One such Palestine refugee is Salim Issa, 26, from Saida in South Lebanon. When he finished high school, he joined the only 13 per cent of refugees who reach the baccalaureate level, but could not continue on to university because his family could not afford the fees. Unwilling to give up, he decided to enroll in Siblin Training Centre. Read More |
Where We Can Go After This? |
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The conflict in Syria is devastating the lives of Syrians and Palestinians alike. Over half are unemployed, and 75 per cent of the population now live in poverty, of which 20 percent struggle to secure shelter and food. In besieged areas such as Yarmouk camp, trapped residents suffer severe deprivation, and also die preventable deaths due to the absence of medical care and the ongoing violence. Palestinians are particularly vulnerable, as conflict increasingly encroaches on their camps in Syria and increased border restrictions have recently been imposed on what was their last de facto option – entry into Lebanon. Read More |
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It's been 66 years since Palestine refugees were first displaced, so it might seem strange that we're still talking about something as basic as the ability to put enough food on the table each day. The community has made great strides in these years, but some have been excluded from that progress – including the very poorest, 700,000 out of the 5million Palestine refugees – and others have had it wrenched from them. For some Palestine refugees, the descent into food insecurity has been sudden and abrupt – that's the case for some in Syria, where more than three years of conflict have decimated livelihoods, savings and opportunities. When your family has lost everything, it becomes incredibly difficult to afford enough nutritious food; in some places, like Yarmouk, that might not even be available. |
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But other areas are suffering, too. The Gaza Strip, home to 1.3 million Palestine refugees, is nearing a crisis. Its economy has been ruined by the long-standing closure and isolation, increasing ten-fold the number of Palestine refugees who need help to meet their basic needs. Restrictions on agriculture, fishing and trade have also had an impact on food availability.
In Jordan, the West Bank and especially Lebanon, the situation is different. For some Palestine refugees there, the inability to afford enough of the food they require is a problem that generations have struggled with. Their food insecurity is brought about by an invisible, long-running crisis: years of chronic abject poverty and barriers to the very tools – education, employment, health care – that could help them break free.
Abject poverty isn’t a problem for one day or one person. It affects every aspect of life for 700,000 Palestine refugees. Mothers suffering from food insecurity disadvantage their babies; children who go hungry to school struggle more than their peers; young men and women who must constantly worry about being able to afford food today can’t focus on tomorrow. For these Palestine refugees, the impact of abject poverty on their food security, their education, their health care and their employment makes it even harder for them to break the cycle.
When we began operations in 1950, a lot of our work involved immediate relief and support for Palestine refugees facing a terrible crisis. Things have changed since then, but whenever Palestine refugees have faced an emergency, UNRWA has been there to help with cash assistance, food assistance and other items. We also support nearly 300,000 refugees across the region with quarterly distributions through our social-safety net. With this support and with other efforts – such as school feeding, a priority for the poor in shelter rehabilitation or technical and vocationaleducation for young men and women – UNRWA tries to help the poorest Palestine refugees both for today and for the future.
This summer, we ask you to help us help those who need it most. Whether caused by a headline-grabbing crisis or years of abject poverty, food insecurity is atrap. With your support, we can help Palestine refugees find their way out. It’s time to red card hunger.
The European Union has played a vital role in helping UNRWA deliver human-development services, including those that help relieve, alleviate and tackle food insecurity, through its contributions to the Agency’s General Fund.
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The European Union supports UNRWA's efforts to alleviate food insecurity through its contributions to the Agency's General Fund. |