“For many of the world’s forcibly displaced, this coming winter will be far more challenging than in recent years, with many displaced families having to choose between food and warmth as they struggle to heat their shelters, source warm clothing and cook hot meals”.
Olga Sarrado, UNHCR Spokesperson
Millions of vulnerable people across the Middle East, Afghanistan and Ukraine who are already displaced by conflict or persecution, will be facing a perilous winter. Freezing temperatures will add to their growing misery and suffering, an added challenge to an already gruelling situation that they are currently in.
Across the Middle East, many displaced Syrians, Palestinians and Iraqis will have to grapple with extreme cold and snowstorms once again.
For a large percentage of them, this will be their 12th consecutive winter living in displacement.
According to UNHCR, an estimated 3.4 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees and internally-displaced people (IDPs) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt will require critical assistance in their preparation for the upcoming winter as well as during the cold season.
In Lebanon, the severe economic crisis is affecting every aspect of life. Nine out of ten Syrian refugees in the country are already living in extreme poverty forced to decrease their food and medical care.
Many are unable to cover their basic needs.
While in Afghanistan, they continue to record new displacement as they continue their effort to contain a humanitarian catastrophe amidst flash flooding and drought.
Today, you can help to share warmth with thousands of people facing some of the harshest conditions we’ll see all year by helping us deliver items through our Winter Emergency Appeal campaign. Together, we will be able to provide blankets, mattresses, winter clothes and boots, stoves and other heating devices to those who desperately need them.