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I wanted to take a moment to share an update about the Women Deliver Humanitarian Advocates — five grassroots feminist organizations in Lebanon that are real-life heroes in humanitarian action.
Many of you may have already seen that the people of Lebanon, including the Humanitarian Advocates, are facing a heartbreaking moment. On Tuesday, 4 August, a massive explosion erupted in Beirut that killed more than 200 people, injured more than 5,000 people, and destroyed homes, buildings, businesses, and the critical Beirut Port. Local women-focused civil society organizations (CSOs) like the Humanitarian Advocates have been among the first to respond, supporting rescue and clean-up efforts, distributing food and medical supplies, and providing psychosocial services.
As we reflect on this difficult time for the Humanitarian Advocates, we reinforce our efforts to advocate for the funding, power, and resources all women-focused CSOs need to support communities during humanitarian crises.
Read our policy recommendations for supporting local women-focused CSOs in humanitarian response here.
Thank you,
Marcy Hersh
Senior Manager, Humanitarian Advocacy
Women Deliver
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Who are the Humanitarian Advocates?
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Women Deliver’s Humanitarian Advocates Program strengthens and elevates the voices of women-focused CSOs in humanitarian settings. Today, we work with five grassroots feminist organizations in Lebanon: the Lebanon Family Planning Association for Development and Family Empowerment (LFPADE), Marsa Sexual Health Center, the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organization, the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL), and Women Now for Development.
Since joining the Humanitarian Advocates Program, these organizations have:
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Served as frontline responders, service providers, and unwavering advocates in response to multiple humanitarian emergencies in Lebanon, including the Beirut explosion, COVID-19, and the country’s political and economic crisis.
(LFPADE provides health services in Tyre, Lebanon, photo from February 2019)
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Spoken at high-level events on the need for more feminist and localized funding, including at the UN General Assembly, Commission on the Status of Women, and Women Deliver 2019 Conference.
(Olfat Mahmoud of PWHO speaks at a side event for the Commission on the Status of Women, photo from March 2019)
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Launched Lebanon’s Feminist Call to Action — a collective advocacy campaign to catalyze more funding, solidarity, and accountability to women-focused CSOs.
(Webpage for Lebanon's Feminist Call to Action, photo from 2018)
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Learn more about the Humanitarian Advocates in our program pamphlet:
➔ English ➔ Arabic ➔ French
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Snapshots: Humanitarian Advocates in Action
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The work of the Humanitarian Advocates is more critical than ever. Despite funding constraints and new challenges, they have worked tirelessly to serve their communities by responding to the Beirut explosion, leading COVID-19 responses, sharing health information, addressing gender-based violence and psychosocial needs during the multiple crises, and beyond.
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Support These #RealLifeHeroes
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We all play a role in shifting more power, funding, and support to women-focused CSOs in humanitarian settings. Here are actions you can take now:
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LEARN About Why We Need Gender-Transformative Localization: Check out our action brief outlining the challenges and opportunities for shifting more power to women-focused CSOs in humanitarian settings, and why this is key for building a feminist humanitarian system.
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FUND Women-focused CSOs: These organizations need sustainable and flexible funding to sustain their work in humanitarian emergencies. Watch our webinar to learn about the funding opportunities they need to maximize their impact and drive progress.
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Join us in elevating the voices of the Humanitarian Advocates by sharing a new op-ed by Hayat Mirshad (RDFL) that calls for support for women-focused CSOs in the Beirut explosion response and beyond:
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