Middle East crisis

The Food Security Phase Classification has issued its gravest warning yet: a worst-case famine scenario is unfolding across the Gaza Strip. 

A visit to Meshmesh in Lebanon highlights the power of local care that uplifts, connects, and respects older people.

New assessment reveals widespread exclusion of older people from humanitarian aid, healthcare and decision-making following 2024 cross-border escalation.

Amel and HelpAge have launched an Ageing Unit in Lebanon to promote the rights and wellbeing of older people through advocacy, training, and community engagement.

HelpAge International condemns the killing of two health workers from our partner Juzoor in Gaza. Humanitarian workers are not targets.

Escalating violence in Gaza is causing renewed displacement and destruction of essential infrastructure.

Severe shortages of food, medicine, and power are putting lives at risk. HelpAge and partners call for immediate humanitarian access to prevent further suffering.

This blog by Chris McIvor, Regional Representative for Eurasia and the Middle East at HelpAge International, examines the ongoing exclusion of older people in humanitarian crises and the urgent need for more inclusive aid responses.

The Syrian Expatriates Medical Association (SEMA) has been a lifeline since 2011, providing critical healthcare during years of conflict. Now, as Syria moves toward reunification, SEMA is rebuilding healthcare systems and prioritizing support for older people often overlooked in crises.

A ceasefire in Gaza offers relief after 16 months of hardship. HelpAge calls for immediate humanitarian aid, prioritizing older people who face severe displacement and lack of basic needs.

After weeks of refuge in Syria, Ahmad returned to Beirut, navigating a long and difficult road and a city weighed down by grief. Home felt different - resilient yet fragile, with older people bearing the brunt of the conflict.

The statement decrying the world's collective failure comes as the French government convenes an international conference today on Lebanon.

Clothing, cash assistance and medication are what displaced people in Mount Lebanon urgently need according to a rapid needs assessment carried out by the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), a member of the HelpAge global network in Lebanon.

"My heart is boiling. We are so down." These are the words of Dr. Umaiyeh Khammash, the director of Juzoor for Health and Social Development, a Palestinian NGO that has been tirelessly working to provide aid to the people of Gaza since the onset of hostilities.

At 75 years old, Dr. Yehia Abed, director of operations for Juzoor, a non-governmental organisation in Gaza, has witnessed more than 20 wars.

People in Rafah have faced multiple displacements over the past seven months. This is particularly challenging for older people, especially those with health conditions, mobility issues and on the verge of severe malnutrition.

HelpAge International is deeply alarmed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity Analysis findings, which state that “famine is imminent in the northern governorates [of Gaza] and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024”.

Joint INGOs statement on airdrops and sea routes to the Gaza Strip – Released 13 March 2024

The decision by twenty major donors to withdraw funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Middle East (UNRWA) has sent shockwaves through the humanitarian landscape.

HelpAge International's latest briefing emphasises the urgent need that any intervention by the international community must include plans to address the needs of older people and ensure the provision of services they require for their basic wellbeing.

A new report looks at the changing roles of older people in northwest Syria after 13 years of conflict and the devastation caused by the 2023 earthquake.

The unfolding events in Israel and Gaza are having a devastating impact on older people caught up in the conflict

HelpAge response to the earthquake in Morocco

Involving older people in policy formulation and review in Lebanon

In the run up to the seventh Brussels Conference on 'Supporting the future of Syria and the region’, we are calling for a shake-up of humanitarian funding.

Social pensions can help provide a much-needed safety net for older people who may otherwise be left without any income.

We look at the survivors who now have to rebuild their lives, and at the humanitarian response of HelpAge's partner SEMA.

We bring you the stories of older people who have survived and now need to find ways to rebuild their lives.

A new report by HelpAge International and the International Labor Organisation draws on the testimonials of older people who convey the severe hardships they face because of the lack of an adequate social protection system in Lebanon.

Civil war in Yemen continues unabated. Over the past three years, this conflict has resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of thousands of people who have the misfortune to be caught up in a vicious cycle of destruction. Much of the country, already the poorest in the Middle East, has been torn apart, and 14 million people currently depend entirely on international aid for their survival.

A new HelpAge International survey of 300 older refugees fleeing from conflict in Syria, Ukraine and South Sudan found evidence of neglect, poor health provision and feelings of isolation and fear.

More than two-thirds of older refugees in HelpAge’s report Older voices in humanitarian crises said they did not have enough information about the humanitarian assistance available to them. Almost half said health services did not provide care for their age-related conditions, and a similar figure said they felt anxious, hopeless or depressed most or all of the time.

As the Syria conflict enters its sixth year, HelpAge International will be working to support older refugees by launching a healthcare programme in Lebanon.

Effective humanitarian responses to the Syria crisis must recognise older people’s vulnerabilities, says HelpAge International, as it launches a project to support their healthcare needs on the fifth anniversary of the conflict.

While millions of Syrians have managed to escape their country since the conflict began almost five years ago, there are still some 13.5 million in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside the country’s borders.

Heads of state arriving in London this week for a high-level donor conference on Syria need to commit to long-term humanitarian funding for vulnerable people in Syria, including older people, says HelpAge International.

The international community must urgently change its approach to Gaza and deliver on promises of reconstruction, 46 agencies said today in a new report on the lack of progress since last year's conflict.

Four years on since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, over 3 million people have fled the country and over one million of those are now living indefinitely in Lebanon.

83% of all the lights in Syria have gone out since the start of the conflict there, a global coalition of humanitarian and human rights organisations has revealed ahead of the fourth anniversary on March 15.

HelpAge International and our local partners on the ground are responding to older people’s most urgent needs in Gaza.

The UK’s major aid agencies are ramping-up a huge humanitarian relief effort in Gaza, taking advantage of the current ceasefire to help hundreds of thousands of desperate people.

The Disasters Emergency Committee has today announced that it will launch an appeal on Friday 8 August for people affected by the conflict in Gaza.

HelpAge International is preparing to respond to the crisis in Gaza. As soon as the situation allows, we will address the immediate health and practical needs of older people affected, especially those living alone or unable to reach services.

HelpAge International is very concerned for the safety of the 66,000 people in the Gaza strip aged 60 and over. According to our staff on the ground, the streets of Gaza are empty and almost all shops are closed. Electricity and water supplies are limited.

New research published today by HelpAge International and Handicap International provides new data showing how much older, disabled and injured Syrian refugees are struggling to meet their specific needs.

New research published today shows that older, disabled and injured Syrian refugees are paying a double toll as a result of the conflict. The report, released by Handicap International and HelpAge International, provides new data showing how much these vulnerable refugees are struggling to meet their specific needs.

It's been three years since the war began in Syria. Currently, around 72,000 Syrian refugees are aged over 60. In conflict situations, older people are among the most vulnerable, with specific needs that must be taken into account.

On the third anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict, HelpAge International is highlighting the plight of the civil war’s “silent casualties”: the invisible victims of the war who have succumbed both in Syria and also in host countries to what were previously manageable chronic illnesses.

HelpAge International, in partnership with Handicap International, is working in Lebanon and Jordan where there are more than 35,000 Syrian refugees aged 60 or over. Our work is funded by Age International and the Disasters Emergencies Committee (DEC) and includes direct cash assistance to vulnerable refugees and families living in urban areas in Jordan.

A year after all 27 EU countries committed to challenging settlement expansion, forced displacement, and demolition of Palestinian property in an unprecedented Foreign Affairs Council statement, approvals for illegal settlements have increased and hundreds of Palestinian homes and structures have been bulldozed despite EU saying this must stop.

HelpAge International's latest briefing emphasises the urgent need that any international community intervention must include plans to alleviate the suffering of older people and ensure the provision of services they require for their wellbeing.

The right to food is a basic human right but around the world millions of people go hungry every day. This gets worse during humanitarian crises, as we are seeing in the current conflict in Gaza, where famine is a very real threat.