Refugees International: Issues: Emergency Relief

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Emergency Relief

Concerns

International emergency relief – water, food, shelter, clothing and health care – is essential to the survival of millions of people who have fled their homes because of violence or natural disaster. But aid agencies are over-burdened and under-funded. They are regularly forced to choose between lifesaving programs such as vaccinating infants from disease or providing school feeding programs for hungry children. The persistent failure of donor governments to provide adequate funding for relief efforts is the most critical flaw in the humanitarian aid process today.

Through our missions around the world, Refugees International assesses the vital needs of the most vulnerable people. We discover who is falling through the cracks and press governments and the UN to act to save lives. From recently displaced people who have not yet received assistance to refugee communities facing food shortages due to droughts or damaged crops, we work to ensure that UN agencies and non-governmental organizations act urgently to ameliorate human suffering.

Accomplishments

From Chad to Cambodia, Refugees International has discovered populations of refugees who were in dire need of food or supplies and has successfully pressed agencies to act. Here are a few of our accomplishments:

When Refugees International traveled to the border of Liberia and Côte D'Ivoire in December 2004, we learned that 6,000 refugees had received no food for six weeks and were showing signs of starvation. After RI contacted the UN agencies involved and alerted the media, food was delivered within a month.

On arrival in Chad, we discovered that relief agencies were vastly underestimating the numbers of refugees from Darfur and therefore distributing too little food and supplies. RI successfully urged the UN and aid agencies to revise their figure and to distribute food within weeks of our findings.

What You Can Do

Donate to Refugees International so we can ensure that international agencies provide food, water and other lifesaving emergency assistance for displaced people.