” Islamic Relief calls for action for besieged areas of Syria “

Statement: 8 January 2016.

Islamic Relief is grievously concerned about the situation reported in the town of Madaya, in Syria, where the population is under siege and facing mass starvation. Tragically, this is not an isolated case. UN OCHA has reported that an estimated 13.5 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian help, including 4.49 million who are in hard-to-reach or besieged locations. The international community is particularly concerned about the suffering of 360,000 people living in 15 besieged areas, including Madaya, in the south of the country, where an estimated 42,000 people are trapped.

Islamic Relief is currently working in the north and south of the country as well as rural Damascus, where millions of people are reliant on humanitarian food packs. Without them, they would have no access to food. International humanitarian law prohibits the targeting of civilians, and the starvation of civilians as a tactic of war. Islamic Relief is calling for unfettered access of the international humanitarian community to Syrians who are desperate for food. We urge the international community to negotiate safe delivery of food, medicine, water and care as a matter of urgency, so desperate hunger and suffering can be alleviated.

Source from:- Islamic Relief Worldwide

In Pakistan, in the northern districts of Chitral and Shangla, Islamic Relief has this month launched a two-month intense project to distribute winter items to around 1,500 earthquake-affected people. In Afghanstan, a one-month project in remote areas of Badakhshan, Takhar, Jalalabad and Kunar is expected to reach 1,400 people.

The earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, took the lives of around 800 people across Pakistan and Afghanistan, and destroyed thousands of homes. The earthquake occurred shortly before the onset of winter, meaning now, as temperatures in Badakhshan plunge below -7C (19F), those who have lost their homes are struggling to survive.

In Pakistan, Islamic Relief is already responding to the earthquake, providing immediate relief through distribution of tents, kitchen sets, sheets, and mats. The new winter project means each family will be provided with plastic floor mats, a cotton mattress, polyester pillows and pillow covers, polyester quilts, a children’s blanket and jumpers, adult-sized shawls, a stove and chimney, solar lamp, socks and hat.

The items will be bought from a local market, further supporting the local economy.

In Afghanistan, Islamic Relief will be working in remote areas of Badakhshan, Takhar, Jalalabad and Kunar, in the eastern and north-eastern part of the country. Experts there will be providing food, shelter, non-food items such as hygiene kits, and heating materials such as charcoal and firewood. We are already distributing food, blankets and plastic sheets to some 4,000 people.

Islamic Relief currently sponsors more than 48,000 orphans in 24 countries and was invited to attend the two-day conference, hosted by Turkish NGO IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation in Istanbul, to discuss the challenges facing orphaned children.

Anwar Ahmed, orphans and child welfare manager at Islamic Relief global headquarters, spoke at the event. He discussed the issue, and the number of factors behind the increased numbers of orphaned children in the world.

According to figures from Unicef, there are around 153 million children worldwide who have lost one or both of their parents, and, according to Save the Children, more than 7 million children are in institutional care.

Speaking after the event, which ran from December 12-13, he said: “It would be unfair to say all institutional care is bad as it very much varies from establishment to establishment, however, often they are overcrowded, with regimental routines, resulting in children not getting the individual attention, affection and social connections that they need to thrive. Research also shows that growing up in institutional care can damage and delay a child’s development.

“The Office of Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh found that with holidays and staff turnover, children in orphanages are often exposed to 60 to 100 different caregivers within the first two years of their life, and this is clearly not a positive experience for them. Children are much happier and do much better when in a family environment, and so Islamic Relief helps relatives support orphaned children rather than have to turn them away.”

There are many reasons why children have been orphaned and they include health of parents, with 17.9 million children having been orphaned by HIV or Aids, the lack of sanitation in many countries, and the increase of armed conflict.

Figures from the ISS Armed Conflict Survey showed that in 2010, there were 55 active conflicts in the world, causing 49,000 recorded fatalities. Four years later, in 2014, while the number of conflicts had reduced to 41, the number of recorded fatalities had risen to around 180,000.

Responding better to the situation

There are a number of problems in addressing the needs of children who have been orphaned. Key challenges include meeting their basic needs such as food, shelter and water, access to education, child labour, forced marriage, trafficking, lack of community and family support and property dispossession.

Every day children are abandoned because of poverty, and, according to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 800,000 people each year commit suicide, with more than 75 per cent of these living in low or middle-income countries.

Anwar Ahmed added that the conference had been designed to bring together best practice and collaborative thinking on the subject with a view to adapting and working together to better respond to the situation.

Islamic Relief’s One-to-One Orphan Sponsorship programme was set up in 1986. Our scheme meets the basic needs of orphaned children and their families by providing a regular allowance, access to healthcare and food distributions. Boys and girls are supported to attend school and make the most of their education. Their parents or guardians are supported through our microfinance and livelihood projects so they can earn a better living. Where needed, we deliver psychosocial support and set up child-friendly spaces to help children overcome trauma.

We also tackle issues that put children at risk, such as child trafficking, child labour, early and forced marriage and gender-based violence.