Caritas Luxembourg provides aid to Beirut

On 4 August, the Lebanese capital, Beirut, was devastated by two huge explosions that hit the population, already hardly affected by the economic crisis, the pandemic and the social tensions ravaging the country. In order to help the victims, Caritas Luxembourg, which has been active in the region for a long time, had appealed to the solidarity of the Luxembourg population. The Luxembourg population had shown itself to be very generous. Caritas Luxembourg would like to thank all those who helped.

Thanks to this mobilization, but also to the support of public authorities such as the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, Caritas Luxembourg and its local partners can help many families.

Thus, food assistance in the form of food baskets and hot meals is distributed daily to the most vulnerable families and to the elderly, disabled people or people living in shelters. 70% of the inhabitants of the Bourj Hammoud district and 80% of the Karantina ("Quarantine") district, two very underprivileged neighbourhoods in which Caritas Luxembourg and its partners are particularly mobilised, need emergency food aid. Vouchers are also distributed to families so that they can buy their basic necessities.

Cash contributions enable vulnerable families to pay for repairs to their homes or to replace essential items such as windows, beds, mattresses or cooking equipment. 70% to 90% of the houses in Bourj Hammoud and 80% of those in Karantina have been destroyed or partially destroyed. People living in rented accommodation are protected against expulsion or rent increases through agreements between tenant, owner and Caritas in which the conditions of renovation and rental lease are agreed upon.

Light repair work (window and door repairs, glass replacement, electrical work, etc.) is undertaken directly in several neighbourhoods thanks to the commitment of volunteers from partner associations.

Finally, psychological help and follow-up are provided to the many people traumatised by the disaster, many of whom are elderly people or children.

Caritas Luxembourg is able to act in Lebanon thanks to the support of field associations such as the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the ALPHA-Association and Caritas Lebanon.

(Photo: Caritas Lebanon)

The financial set-up of the emergency aid project for Lebanon has been completed. If you wish to help, please visit our page with all the international cooperation projects to support or make a donation with the mention "international cooperation". Donations will then be mobilised according to the needs.