Libya Relief Guide

Compiled by Tasbeeh Herwees

A non-definitive list of charities and organisations collecting donations for the betterment of Libya and its people.

LIBYA-SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS

For those who would like to help aid the Libyan people Tawasil is launching a new campaign to lend a helping hand to the Libyan refugees who have fled the Western Mountain Region (Jabal al Gharbi) of Libya to Tunisian border town of Dahiba. In recent days an estimated amount of over 800 families have fled various towns in the Western Mountain Region to the border town of Dahiba in Tunisia. They are mainly women and children and elderly, with only a few men to care for them. Many of the husbands, fathers and sons stayed back to protect their homes and cities. These refugees fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and they are in desperate need of any kind assistance. We are initiating a sponsorship program in which a donor can sponsor a family or you can donate to the general fund. To sponsor a family the cost per family is $20 dollars day.

I-GO AID is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) set up in order to deliver much needed medical and food supplies to the Libyan people, specifically those in cut-off coastal areas of the country. I-Go Aid was set up by a group of Libyan and Maltese nationals in late February 2011 and was officially registered in Malta in March. I-Go Aid has been able to drawn in support from their member’s affiliations with both Maltese and overseas companies.

Given the siege of Misrata that began 2 months ago, I-Go has focused its activities providing aid to the residents there. I-go Aid has actively coordinated transportation of food and medicine to the city through Misrata’s port. With only one early mission unsuccessful due to interception by Libyan patrol boats, I-Go has since made 9 shipments to Misrata by sea.

Libyan Aid is a global network of volunteers aiming to provide medical aid and assistance to Libyan civilians caught up in the humanitarian crisis in Libya. In coordination with AR AMEX, we have a network of volunteers in Malta, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, U.K and U.S.A working together to provide logistical support and coordination to receive and transport medical aid through Libya’s borders.

We aim to collect medical supplies as well as monetary donations in order to purchase medical supplies from the basics, such as bandages and antiseptic, up to more complex equipment for use in hospitals where they are most needed.

The International Medical & Educational Trust (IMET) was started by a childrens’ psychotrauma doctor in Missouri and he has opened a front for Libya.  They are currently delivering humanitarian aid inside Libya and the plan is to make this an organization that focuses solely on Libyan children suffering from psychological trauma in the future (he plans to go there personally and treat patients).

ALL funds go directly to Libya with no overhead costs whatsoever.  All workers on the Libyan front are volunteers and ALL personal expenses are paid for exclusively by the volunteers, not from donations.

A newly formed NGO, Global Relief Libya was created by a group of volunteers from a wide range of professional and geographical backgrounds coordinating and streamlining the humanitarian relief to Libyans in and outside Libya through a network of volunteers from all over the world supports Global Relief Libya’s work in a solidarity without boundaries or frontiers.

Hope Relief was established in 1993 by a Libyan in the US determined to help Libyans in need around the world. Currently, its goals have shifted to help with Humanitarian Aid in Libya (short-term and long-term).

Born in the wake of the Feb17 Libyan uprising, the Libya Outreach Group serves as a global, action oriented group of professionals dedicated to raising awareness, facilitating outreach and mobilizing humanitarian relief for Libya.

An engaged global community of Libyan and non-Libyan actors is critical to the success of Libya’s future and to ensure the people’s aspirations for freedom and democracy become a reality.  An informed, engaged and aligned community of policy makers, humanitarians, business leaders, and citizens can facilitate Libya’s long-term sustainable success. The Libya Outreach Group is committed to brokering this success by mobilizing and engaging diverse stakeholders toward developing a free and democratic Libya.

Libyan Emergency Aid has moved from strength to strength since its inception.

We have sent over the value of around €500,000 in medical aid and equipment, with more aid on the way, and we have also managed to travel to Benghazi through Egypt and were fortunate enough to meet members of the the aid organisation Tawasil, who take care of the aid we send over from Ireland.

Furthermore, Neil D’arcy, Ivan Cummins and myself have travelled to Libya to meet the handlers of our medical aid and to also film a documentary covering the crisis and the volunteers that have dropped their working lives and travelled far from their families to work on the ground to do what they can for the Libyan democratic revolution.

The documentary “Dying To Be Free” will hopefully be edited and produced in 2-3 weeks. Here’s an excerpt from the film: http://vimeo.com/21238167

Donations made to the Libya Relief Fund go to provide medical assistance, medical supplies and all other logistical efforts.

World Medical Camp for Libya (WMCL) is a charitable organisation which was established to address the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in Libya and to respond to the urgent and immediate need for medical aid in Libya.

Since its establishment, and thanks to your donations, WMCL has been extremely successful in delivering medical aid to the Western Mountain, Zuwarah, Benghazi, Misrata, as well as other affected areas. However, as money is coming in, it is quickly going out to meet the forever expanding needs of Libyan civilians.

We are constantly receiving requests for water sanitation systems, portable ventilators as well as other similar and particularly costly devices. In addition, we have recently received reports that Benghazi is facing a dangerous shortage of yeast. This means that your donations are needed now more than ever before.

We have been witnessing the level of the humanitarian disaster in Misrata and elsewhere on our television screens as journalists have now managed to report from hospitals and interview doctors and civilians caught up in the fighting.  This reaffirms our mission that there is a massive need for medical aid and other humanitarian supplies.  We need to keep the momentum and raise more funds to meet this challenge so we urge you to please keep supporting our cause. Any donation made towards this appeal will make a difference and we will keep you updated on how your donations have been spent via the website.

Libyan Relief Committee (LRC) Tunisia, is a voluntary effort created by Libyan activists, in view of the events that continue to take place in Libya, it is dedicated to helping libyan at home and displaced Libyan families and children fled the country from the western borders,our humanitarian activities extend also to those stranded in Tunisia.

GENERAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH LIBYA FUNDS

Since fighting began in Libya in late February, more than 739,000 people have fled the violence to neighboring countries. Medical Teams International’s first team of staff and volunteers recently returned from Libya. The agency also plans to send another team to Libya within the next week.

An Islamic Relief assessment team has been dispatched to Libya, where the required intervention will be determined. Initial preparations have been made to provide emergency shelter and food for people fleeing the violence. Islamic Relief is also providing medical aid to the injured. The humanitarian team continues its efforts at Libya’s Eastern border, where a convoy of baby milk and medical supplies is on the way to the coastal city of Benghazi – Libya’s second biggest city. The convoy includes 10 volunteer doctors from Egypt who will be working in the Libyan hospitals in liaison with the Libyan Medical Syndicate.  Preparations are also being made on the Tunisian border in response to the large influx of refugees to Tunisia.

Islamic Relief is a Four-Star charity on Charity Navigator, the highest rating a charity can receive.

Zakat Foundation has dispatched two teams to the region. While writing this appeal, one of our teams entered Libya from Egypt. The second team is now at the Libyan-Tunisian boarder helping refugees while waiting for permission to enter Libya.

Dear brother and sister, there are three types of people; the first group makes things happen, the second group watches as things happen, and third group of people look and ask what happened. Today, history is in the making. Please be part of those who make things happen.

Zakat Foundation has no drop-down menu to specify which country in the Middle East you’d like to donate to. A representative recommended emailing the organization right after making your donation and letting them know you intend it to be used in Libya.

Muslims Without Borders’ medical convoy arrived at the Libyan border on Wednesday, February 23rd with a shipment of emergency medical supplies. The shipment was delivered to to Al Jalaa Hospital in Bengazi on February 24th. MWB was the first American NGO to operate inside Libya.

MWB’s initial assessment of the situation in the eastern cities of Tobruk, Darnah and Benghazi shows no imminent disaster pending. Hospitals are prepared to handle medical needs for the short term, but are still lacking basic medical equipment and medication. MWB is preparing a second convoy with general medical equipment and medication.

MWB is also preparing an advance team for the western region on the Tunisian border where the situation may change to a sudden emergency due to the fluid situation in the capital Tripoli. Please continue to support MWB’s aid and logistics network which is now also assisting other international relief agencies sending aid into Libya.

The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) completed a medical evacuation of almost 100 people by boat from Misrata, Libya, to Tunisia on April 16.  The majority of the patients had suffered war-related injuries.

The boat departed Misrata on April 15, arriving in Zarzis, Tunisia, early the next morning, with 64 war-wounded patients and 45 other people. While in Misrata, the MSF team was able to assess medical facilities in the city, where ongoing fighting has cut off the population from external assistance and hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed with casualties. The evacuation followed a similar one on April 4, when 71 people were transferred from Misrata.

MSF does not have drop-down menu to indicate which country you’d like to send your money to. If you’d like to donate specifically to Libya, you may be able to indicate this in the “Leave a Message” portion of the form, although this makes no guarantees.

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has deployed teams to key border points between Libya and Tunisia to provide tents and other relief items to up to 10,000 people fleeing the civil unrest and political violence currently taking place in Libya. Already an estimated 22,000 people have crossed into Tunisia since fighting broke out. UNHCR is also working with the Egyptian government helping those escaping into Egypt.
Your much-needed donation through UNHCR will help provide emergency relief items to the thousands of North Africans fleeing the persecution and killing in Libya right now.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent has been on the ground helping people since the beginning of the unrest, but more support will be needed as the crisis unfolds.

Money raised from the appeal will be used to support the ICRC’s response to the crisis, including healthcare and medical supplies for people affected by the unrest in Libya and food, shelter and first aid for people crossing into Tunisia and Egypt.

A medical team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in Benghazi, who are also providing Libya with truckloads of medical supplies. Since the outbreaks of violence in Benghazi began, the Libyan Red Crescent has been responding with basic medical care and transporting injured people to hospital. It has also provided blood units to the town’s four hospitals.

The Egyptian and Tunisian Red Crescents are working at their countries’ borders with Libya, providing food and basic medical care to people crossing from Libya.

Human Concern International (HCI) is responding to the current Tragic events where thousands of people are injured and dead by working to send medical and financial help to the injured and their families.

They need all the help and support that they can get. Please Donate generously.

Life for Relief and Development is providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of Libya through Egypt’s borders.

Life is planning medicines, medical supplies, baby formula, and other essentials to the Libyan-Egyptian border.  Much more is still needed.

Life is calling on its donors to quickly respond to this appeal and donate what they can to help the innocent people of Libya in their time of desperate need.

Save the Children has dispatched an emergency response team to the Egyptian/Libya border to prepare to respond to a potential humanitarian crisis both within Libya and across the border into Egypt. The team will arrive at the border tomorrow.

“The country’s escalating instability could affect children the most,” said Geof Giacomini, Save the Children US’s country director in Egypt. “We know that tens of thousands have already crossed the border, and we are now hearing reports of shortages of medical supplies and other essential items inside Libya itself. We want to make sure that children caught up in this crisis are cared for and protected.”

The global humanitarian aid organization is warning that if the violence continues, the effect on children could be severe. Displaced children face serious risks, including being separated from their families, exploited for labor, and dropping out of school. They are also vulnerable to emotional distress from being uprooted from their homes, schools and all that is familiar to them.

There is no way to specify where your money will be going, so consider contacting the organization directly.

IMANA Relief is collaborating with the Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) in Egypt to provide urgent medical care and food distribution to those in need.  In Libya, both FIMA and IMANA are working together in setting up field hospitals along the Libyan-Egyptian border to begin treating the thousands who have already fled the violence.

Short URL: http://english.libya.tv/?p=2891