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Lebanon/OPT: Trócaire's Middle East fund one year on

It is almost a year since Trócaire launched its Middle East fund to support the humanitarian needs of communities following the war in Lebanon and increased hostilities in Gaza. The conflict killed and wounded thousands and caused widespread destruction of public infrastructure.

To date, Trócaire has raised, €465,289 through public donations and €400,000 from the Irish Government. Through the Middle East fund, Trócaire has worked with our partners Caritas Lebanon , Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in vulnerable communities to meet the basic needs of families during the war and to provide support that will enable families to rebuild their lives in Lebanon. Following the conflict, every day tasks became enormous challenges as families struggled to access food, medicine and shelter.

The Middle East fund was also used to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Operation Summer Rain and Operation Autumn Clouds. Some small scale funding has also been provided to partner organisations in Israel and the West Bank to address the root causes of the injustices.

The Middle East fund has helped people like Elie Karam. Elie Karam worked a plot of land behind his home in Lebanon's West Bekaa Valley. The war in 2006 ruined the crops and orchards upon which his family depend. Elie and his family were placed on Caritas Lebanon's list of vulnerable families - he is one of more than 2,000 such families Caritas Lebanon is now reaching with heating fuel and agricultural assistance in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

Yusef El Helou lives in the small village of Sarba, in southern Lebanon. His family lost their cow in the conflict. Dependent almost solely on the cow for their family income, the loss was catastrophic. "We lived from this cow, because it provides milk that we sell on a daily basis," Yusef said. "Also, my wife makes yogurt from the milk." After providing both food and hygiene kits to Yusef and his wife - some of 6,000 such kits distributed by Caritas Lebanon in the weeks after the war - Caritas Lebanon provided Yusef with a replacement cow as part of its rehabilitation programme reaching out to vulnerable people in 125 villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Trócaire's Middle East Fund is supporting the following projects:

- Emergency food and medical supplies

- Emergency blanket distributions

- Clearance of mines and unexploded ordinance (UXOs)

- Training and income generating support to vulnerable groups in particular women and people with disabilities

- Livelihood support (agricultural support).

- Advocacy and awareness raising with key stakeholders on their responsibilities based on the rules of war.

To date, Trócaire has spent 82% of the funds raised, whilst the rest of the funding has been committed to partner organisations the work has been delayed as a result of the ongoing instability in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Trócaire Middle East Fund Expenditure

OPT
Lebanon
Israel
Regional
22%
68%
4%
6%

Current Situation

Aid agencies are finding the situation in Lebanon and the OPT increasingly difficult to operate in, as the continued instability hampers daily activities and access to communities. Trócaire condemns the killing of UN personnel and civilians and calls upon all parties to respect human rights and humanitarian law during the current crisis. Trócaire continues to monitor the humanitarian situation in Lebanon and in the OPT and will respond where necessary and possible to the crisis.

A year after the devastating 34-day war in July-August 2006 and Operation Summer Rain, the security situation continues to deteriorate. The prospect of Lebanon returning to civil war looks more likely with a high probability of the conflict drawing in the region as a whole. The situation in the OPT is also becoming increasingly difficult as 87% of the population are living below the poverty line.

Trócaire would like to take this opportunity to thank the Irish public and the Irish Government for their continued support and in particular for supporting our work in the Middle East.