While UNHCR’s third global Ramadan campaign has been able to raise funds to support around 3,444 families for a year to date (mid-month), more donations are still needed as coronavirus has exacerbated the regional refugee situation.
The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 has pushed displaced populations into deepening poverty with the loss of livelihood opportunities and income, leading to increasing levels of food insecurity and malnourishment, explained Houssam Chahine, chief of Private Sector Partnerships for MENA at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
“The COVID-19 induced recession is expected to push between 88 million and 115 million people into extreme poverty. While precise measures are difficult, estimates by the World Bank and UNHCR point to a large and disproportionate impact on already vulnerable people, such as the forcibly displaced,” said Chahine.
This year’s Ramadan campaign Every Second Counts focuses on “the incredible impact individuals can create within seconds in the lives of refugee and displaced families whose lives turned upside down within moments and who have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety,” explained Chahine.
Houssam Chahine, chief of Private Sector Partnerships for MENA at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
Speaking to Arabian Business mid-month, Chahine said the campaign been able to raise funds through general donations, Zakat and Sadaqah. It aims to help provide lifesaving support such as shelter, food, clean water and monthly cash assistance, to the most vulnerable refugee and internally displaced families from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, countries in the Sahel region, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Early this year, UNHCR launched a mobile app version of its Refugee Zakat Fund. The app has since been downloaded 28,255 times with more than 75 percent of downloads being from the GCC, said Chahine.
“GiveZakat App delivers 100 percent of Zakat donations to eligible refugees and internally displaced families. It provides users with various secure payment methods and a simplified process for Sadaqah and Zakat donations,” he said.
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