Latest news with #Joud
Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
The silent catastrophe: Abandoning women and girls in crisis
In crises across the Arab States region, where humanitarian needs have soared to unprecedented levels, a disturbing trend is unfolding: the systematic defunding of life-saving services for women and girls. From Somalia to Sudan, Syria to Yemen, and beyond, drastic funding cuts – notably the abrupt termination of US financial support – are precipitating what can only be described as a silent catastrophe. This isn't merely about abstract statistics; it's about lives shattered and futures stolen as critical reproductive health and gender-based violence services are dismantled precisely when and where they are needed most. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Consider Joud, driven by conflict to a displacement camp in Al-Hol, north-eastern Syria. She never imagined having more children, with health services virtually non-existent and pregnancy feeling too risky. Yet, the opening of a UNFPA-supported maternity clinic gave her the confidence to embrace motherhood again. Now, she fears this lifeline may close. As she poignantly states: 'Without it, pregnant women will face their most precious and precarious moments alone — without care, without safety, and without hope." Her story underscores a grim reality: the decision to defund reproductive health and protection services is not a simple financial adjustment, but a profound denial of the most basic, life-saving support women and girls desperately require and deserve. The reality is stark: severe funding shortages have ripped away essential services from millions of the most vulnerable. In Lebanon, nearly half of UNFPA-supported women and girls' safe spaces — providing safety, counseling, medical treatment, and legal referrals, critical for survivors of violence — have been forced to close their doors. In Somalia, mobile outreach programs that delivered integrated reproductive health and gender-based violence services to an estimated 250,000 women have ceased entirely. Across Yemen, a staggering 1.5 million women and girls no longer have access to life-saving services. These are not abstract figures; they represent safe havens, vital medical care, and a lifeline for individuals facing unimaginable hardship. Even before recent cuts, health services in crisis-affected countries in the region were alarmingly precarious. In Syria, less than half of health facilities remain functional after 14 years of civil war. Funding for gender-based violence programs in Sudan was less than 20 percent of financial needs in 2024 as the number of people at risk soared to over 12 million. Yet, women-led organizations and services for survivors of gender-based violence were among the hardest and earliest hit by this year's aid cuts. Cuts to humanitarian funding are not merely budget decisions; they are profoundly, unequivocally, life-and-death choices. When the services designed to protect women's health, safety, and dignity vanish, what message do we, the global community, send? That their suffering is invisible. That their lives simply do not matter. This is utterly unacceptable. The closure of services, drastic staff cuts, and suspension of essential programming, such as emergency obstetric care and medical care for survivors of violence, represents a profound moral failure that will put the lives of women and girls at risk. We cannot stand by as the fragile progress made in advancing women and girls' rights and well-being is brutally eroded. Urgent and sustained donor contributions are not merely desirable; they are an absolute, immediate necessity to prevent a deeper, irreparable humanitarian catastrophe in these already fragile countries. The lives, dignity, and futures of millions depend on our collective action. To turn our backs now is to commit an irreversible injustice.
Muscat Daily
26-03-2025
- General
- Muscat Daily
Bahla Charity Team provides aid to over 1,000 families
Muscat – Bahla Charity Team has distributed food parcels to more than 1,000 needy families in Bahla and its surrounding villages as part of its Ramadan charity drive. Cash and food donations worth approximately RO46,350 facilitated the drive. To ensure transparency and efficiency, the team used the Joud platform to record data and streamline the distribution process. Food parcels were delivered through designated representatives, ensuring aid reached those most in need. Managing the sorting and distribution posed logistical challenges, but with continuous technological adjustments, the team enhanced coordination between departments and committees, improving efficiency and data management. The drive is part of broader charitable efforts, including distribution of Eid clothing and sacrificial animals to support underprivileged families during festivals. The team also launched an initiative called 'Charitable Plate' in Al Ghafat, encouraging community participation and volunteerism. Residents contributed food items, with over 1,000 dishes collected and sold to the public. Proceeds were directed towards assisting needy families. Through these efforts, Bahla Charity Team continues to promote community solidarity and social responsibility, ensuring support for vulnerable members of society.
