On August 4, 2020, an explosion in a Beirut port caused havoc and confusion throughout the city: 300,000 people were displaced; 6,000 people were injured; and 190 people were killed. A year later, there are still a lot of questions about what or who caused the blast, and how to prevent it from ever happening again. The government has declared a national day of mourning to commemorate this painful disaster, which is still affecting thousands of families.

“The blast was extremely powerful and devastated many parts of the city; the destruction was everywhere. However, the impact and damage were most significant in poor neighborhoods where people were already living in very dire conditions. Many residents had no choice but to live in what was left of their old houses, which were often seriously damaged by the explosion,” said Tariq Al Bizri, Islamic Relief acting Country Director in Lebanon. “Thousands of people lost their jobs as prominent businesses and companies were also destroyed in the explosion and never re-opened. Unemployment has increased since then, which has worsened the situation.”

The explosion came at a time when Lebanese residents were already facing Covid-19 lock downs, financial crisis, extreme electricity outages, massive trash dilemmas, and even famine.

Islamic Relief has had a long history of serving those in need in Lebanon, and, when this emergency set in, IR teams and donors moved quickly to help, providing aid and support to tens of thousands of those affected, including distributing emergency food and hygiene kits to the survivors to address immediate needs, and set up rehabilitation programs to provide effective aid over the long haul.

And now, a year later, Islamic Relief is still providing support in the form of shelter rehabilitation and distributing food parcels, as well as working on sustainable solutions for vulnerable families facing long-standing economic issues.

This is the power of your donations. Please keep our sisters and brothers in Lebanon in your prayers as they continue down the long path to a full recovery, and continue to support humanitarian work by donating.