1. Donate to a trusted organization that already operates in the region.
If you’re in the US, giving directly to organizations based in Iran is complicated by American sanctions on the country, though humanitarian projects are generally exempt. Your best bet is to donate to large global relief organizations, like the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Refugee Council, that do work both in Iran and across the region.
Groups like Project HOPE are also actively monitoring the needs of Iranian refugees while focusing their relief efforts on other vulnerable countries in the Middle East. Lebanon, in particular, is a major focus of relief efforts; Israeli airstrikes there have displaced nearly 700,000 people, including 200,000 children, since the start of this latest conflict.
Other trusted aid groups with longstanding teams on the ground include Jesuit Refugee Service, the International Rescue Committee, Humanity & Inclusion, Relief International, and Doctors Without Borders. The World Food Program and World Central Kitchen have both launched funds to rush food aid to those displaced by the conflict.
Save the Children is distributing child-focused supplies. GlobalGiving has a rolling relief fund providing flexible support to vetted, local organizations. And Anera, which has decades of experience distributing aid in Lebanon, has been providing food, hygiene kits, bedding, and mattresses to people who have been displaced.
2. Send cash directly to people who need it.
Research shows that, even in fragile conflict zones, people often strongly prefer receiving cash — which they can then spend however they need — over relief items like food parcels, hygiene kits, or blankets. The nonprofit GiveDirectly has pioneered the use of technology to get cash aid to people fast and is actively exploring how to help those affected by this conflict through a newly launched emergency fund.
Historically, most of GiveDirectly’s work has focused on people living in extreme poverty, rather than targeting those living in conflict zones. But, the organization has recently expanded to providing emergency relief to families affected by conflicts like the Yemeni civil war and armed clashes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
One way the group works is through cellphone metadata, which can help identify people who are likely in need. In this case, that may include displaced people in Lebanon, Iranian refugees entering Turkey, or Malawians affected by rising fertilizer costs. GiveDirectly then screens those people for eligibility via text and sends them cash through mobile payment platforms.
The process tends to be “cleaner, faster, more objective, and cheaper” than more traditional outreach methods like knocking door-to-door, said Leith Baker, who runs GiveDirectly’s emergency cash strategy. It’s a “really protective, dignified way to receive money” that “gives the recipient a lot of choice and protection,” he said.
You can help GiveDirectly with its plans to send cash to those affected by the conflict by donating here.
3. Consider supporting longer-term resilience efforts.
While those who live in range of the bombs are at the greatest risk, many of those most affected will include people who don’t live in the region at all. Those in already deeply impoverished countries will be the most vulnerable to the conflict’s economic ripple effects, which already include surging prices on food, fertilizer, and fuel.
To support those communities even after the news cycle fades, consider giving to projects like The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Global Recovery Fund, which directs funds to local organizations that need it most in the aftermath of both natural and manmade disasters.
GiveDirectly also has a standing fund to deliver emergency cash in the aftermath of disasters, as well as one for families facing extreme poverty more broadly. And Action Against Hunger works to fight hunger and build stronger food systems around the world, which could help make countries more resilient to price shocks.
The war comes at a particularly tenuous moment for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Progress against global poverty was already slowing, thanks in part to US foreign aid cuts. At the same time, mounting economic anxieties in the US may leave some people feeling less able to give than they otherwise would.
All the more reason to donate now, if you can afford to.
Read Sara’s full story here.
