Emergencies | SCIAF

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We’re already there when emergencies strike, and will be there long after others have left.

We work to prevent disasters and, when disaster does strike, we respond immediately by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and rebuilding lives and communities in the long term.

When emergencies strike it’s the poorest who suffer the most. We will not forsake them.

In 2020/2021

500,000

people supported in emergency situations across the world

emergencies responded to in 20 countries

88,390

people provided with emergency relief when disaster struck

We’ve been responding to humanitarian emergencies since 1968, when the Scottish Catholic community responded to our Gospel call for a just world, giving money to help people affected by the 1968 famine in Biafra (now part of south-eastern Nigeria) and drought in Bihar in India.

Your support over the last five decades has helped us respond to emergencies like promoting peace in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, and getting life-saving aid and long-term support to families devastated by the Asian Tsunami of 2004.

Our recent responses around the world

2022

The Scottish public donated over £1.2m to our Ukraine appeal which, combined with £500,000 from the Scottish Government, allowed us to provide food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene supplies, medicines, counselling, and assistance to those fleeing to neighbouring countries.

2022

Thanks to public support and the Scottish Government Humanitarian Emergency Fund, we responded to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover by providing cash relief and basic necessities.

2021

In India, thanks to you, we helped tackle the worst COVID-19 rates in the world through the provision of PPE, hygiene kits and food supplies.

2021

In Ethiopia, with funding from the Scottish Government and your donations, we supported those affected by the conflict in Tigray by providing emergency shelter and psychosocial counselling.

2020

After the Beirut Port Explosion, generous donations helped us to provide blankets, food relief, and schooling for those in immediate need, as well as to support projects that would re-build the city in the longer term.

2019

76,000 survivors were supported in the aftermath of Cylone Idai in southern Africa. Over 40,000 Rohingya refugees were provided with rice, lentils, sugar and oil in Bangladesh, alongside plates, saucepans, glasses and utensils so they could cook and eat with dignity.

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We work to prevent disasters and, when disaster does strike, we respond immediately by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and rebuilding lives and communities in the long term.

As part of Caritas, a global Church network with a presence in more than 160 countries, we’re already there when emergencies strike, and will be there long after others have left.

We stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers and do everything we can to ease their suffering.

Our three pillared response

Relief

Through the Caritas network we respond immediately in an emergency. We get essential supplies like food, clean water, shelter, medicine and cash to people very quickly and support families in their darkest hour.

Rebuild & Recover

We don’t leave right after an emergency – we’re often there for the long term, helping communities to recover and rebuild. Together with local communities we develop local solutions that will make a real and lasting difference.

Prevent

We work with communities to prepare them for the worst, helping them to develop climate-resistant methods of growing food and setting up savings and insurance schemes. We stand side by side with communities to build peace and promote justice, so they have power over their own lives. We also work to advocate for governments to create systems and structures that protect the environment.

SCIAF is a panel member of the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund and a signatory to Charter4Change, an initiative, led by both National and International NGOs, to practically implement changes to the way the Humanitarian System operates to enable more locally-led response.

Emergency Response: Syria

Over eleven years since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the conflict continues to cause immense suffering. The equivalent of more than twice the population of Scotland have fled their homes since the conflict began.

We’ve been there since 2016 and we’re still there, ensuring essential access to food, water and safe places to stay for the most vulnerable people. We’re helping families to rebuild homes and livelihoods damaged and destroyed in the violent conflict, and helping refugees to rebuild their lives.

Emergency Appeal

Israeli-Palestinian Emergency Appeal

We have launched an emergency appeal for the crisis in the Holy Land. Ongoing and escalating conflict in the Holy Land, particularly the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is causing unimaginable fear and suffering.

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