How DEC charities are providing aid as the crisis evolves

Conflict in the Middle East has devastated lives, and DEC charities and their local partners are continuing to provide lifesaving support to people in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and Syria, as they have been doing throughout the crisis.

They continue to adapt their programmes to ensure those who need it most are supported, and are working to respond to people’s changing needs. Over the last few months hundreds of thousands of people have been able to return to their communities, however many found their homes and businesses destroyed and the levels of need remain incredibly high.

Gaza

Throughout the crisis DEC charities have been working hard to cope with limited deliveries of aid, and focusing where possible on support that does not rely solely on external supplies, such as cash assistance, medical care and psychosocial services.

The ceasefire agreement in January has helped DEC charities and their local partners to replenish much needed supplies of humanitarian aid. In recent weeks, as people have returned to their communities, they have been supporting them with shelter, food, medical care, clean water and basic supplies.

Local partner organisations are integral to DEC charities' response in Gaza, and their deep understanding and connection to their local communities is helping to ensure life-saving aid reaches those who need it most. 

Zoe Daniels is Country Director for DEC member charity International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the occupied Palestinian territory. She explains: 

“We have partnered with local organisations to reach the most isolated and vulnerable communities, ensuring they receive essential humanitarian aid, including healthcare and food. This collaboration allows us to continue delivering life-saving support despite the ongoing challenges.” 

Recently IRC have been using DEC funds in Khan Younis and Al Mawasi, to address urgent food and basic needs through a flexible approach. These include multipurpose cash assistance, electronic vouchers and support such as food baskets.

With the destruction of much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, the delivery of healthcare has become incredibly challenging, especially for older  people. Recently, as many have been on the move back to their communities and people have become more spread across Gaza, this is even more difficult. 

“Around 600,000 people attempted to return (to northern Gaza). There are no cars, no fuel and they have to go by foot. For older people, that's a very difficult journey”

- Karim Alqassab, Age International’s Humanitarian Programme Manager for the Middle East

Age International's local partner in northern Gaza is Juzoor, an organisation that is using DEC funds has to establish community healthcare centres in the areas where older people live. They provided more than two million people last year with health and psychological services.

Majed,* 62, has been receiving support for his heart condition at a Juzoor medical clinic in north Gaza. He describes the clinic as a ‘blessing’. “When we came here, they told me this is the Juzoor association. It was a great blessing that they provided us with the treatment.”

Before the ceasefire agreement in January, DEC charities were still delivering aid despite heavy restrictions around access for humanitarian aid trucks.

Some examples of how DEC charities have been able to support people in Gaza include:

• Using DEC funds ActionAid have provided hot meals, shelter service, services, and winterisation items to more than 19,000 beneficiaries so far in the central and southern area of Gaza Strip.
   
• Action Against Hunger, with the support of DEC appeal funds, has provided lifesaving water to more than 120,000 individuals in north Gaza and Gaza City. As a result of damaged water systems, distribution through water trucking remains the only possible source of clean water in some areas.
   
• Oxfam and their local partners are providing families in the Deir al Balah and Khan Younis areas of Gaza with much-needed cash assistance. They will also be providing psychosocial support for women dealing with ongoing trauma.  
   
• The British Red Cross and their local partners are providing vital medical care to some of the many sick and injured, supporting hospitals and clinics and providing essential medicines.  
   
• Concern Worldwide and their local partners have been distributing clean water every two days in Gaza to displaced people living in camps. They are also distributing hygiene supplies, and building sanitation facilities in camps.

Lebanon

Following the ceasefire at the end of last year, some people in Lebanon have been moving back to their communities. DEC charities are constantly monitoring the situation to ensure they are working in the right areas to be able to support those returning home as well as those still sheltering elsewhere.

As people continue to return to their communities, many are finding their homes destroyed or areas still unsafe.

“When the ceasefire started, people that had been displaced returned to the areas that they're originally from to find that either they couldn't return to their homes because there were still some access and safety constraints, or because their homes were destroyed." 

 - Suzanne Takkenberg, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director for Lebanon

During the fighting, a lot of Lebanon’s public infrastructure was heavily damaged, leaving entire communities without access to essential healthcare services and clean water.

“We do a lot of in-kind distributions as well, still to those that are displaced,” says Suzanne Takkenberg, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director for Lebanon. “Everything from non-food items such as hygiene kits, baby kits, dignity kits; we do portable and drinking water distributions, both to IDPs [internally displaced people] but also to those still remaining in the border communities."

Here are some more examples of how DEC charities have supported people in Lebanon:

• Oxfam has been providing people displaced outside of collective sites with vital food parcels and items in northern Lebanon.
   
• International Rescue Committee has been providing multi-purpose cash for displaced people and returnees in Bekaa, to meet their urgent and basic needs.
   
• Action Against Hunger has supplied 15,000,000 liters of water across 800 facilities and has reached over 90,000 people with support since October 2023.
   
• Plan International are providing food, and winter kits including blankets and mattresses, and reaching families with essential hygiene and baby kits.

Donations to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are enabling member charities and their local partners to reach more people with lifesaving aid, despite the uncertainty and changing context. With so many people having lost everything, your support remains a lifeline.