Charity

Returning female refugees a basic human right – their dignity

75% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live below the poverty line. Being a refugee of any kind in Lebanon is not easy, especially since the Lebanese authorities do not give refugee status to the Syrians who have fled the now 9-year-old war in Syria and arrived later than 2015. They are living in an administrative limbo. As a consequence, they cannot enter the labour market legally, access the health system, find housing, and have limited access to education. 

On this edition and thanks to the people who contributed to the cause by buying Across Borders posters or by direct donations, we were able to donate sanitary kits to Syrian women and girls in four refugees camps in the Beka’a Valley of Lebanon. The first refugee settlements that received Across Borders Dignity Kits were Ale Askar, el Louis, Al Maïs and Al Saros on April 2021. The kits were distributed with our partner NGO Rescate and their local collaborator NAVTSS.

Across Borders Kits products were bought directly in Lebanon in order to reduce environmental impact due to transportation and to help reinforce local economy.

 

A situation that’s going from bad to worse
Covid has impacted on their ability to move around Lebanon (further limiting their access to casual labour), and any United Nations financial aid they can receive is paid in local currency, which has been seriously devalued due to the crisis.

Living without basic hygiene products is unimaginable to us, so we tried to make it unimaginable for them too.
The situation in Lebanon is critic, with an economic, political and health crisis and its increasingly hard for many refugees such as this Syrian women to obtain basic food and health products. 60% of women have no access to underwear, and even more lack feminine hygiene products such as sanitary pads, which can lead to infections and other health problems. A basic Across Borders Dignity Kit contains a series of items like soap, underwear, shampoo, maxi-pads, toothbrush and toothpaste, lasting up to four months.

Help fund The Dignity Kit!
For the next donation we are looking for hygiene and feminine products to include in our kit. If you want to be part of this project as a donor, helping to fill the boxes, please get in touch with us at acrossborders@mayuscula.es

Collaborators

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