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The devastating explosion in Lebanon’s capital killed at least 150 people, injured more than 5,000, and left hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The Lebanese people are left dealing with injuries, loss of loved ones, and damaged homes as they look towards rebuilding their lives. 

To help rescue efforts and support the strong people of Lebanon, Globesight supported the Global Aid for Lebanon Campaign, led by Global Citizen, which called on the global community to help the Lebanese people.

The campaign was kicked off by a $250,000 donation by Sal & Rima Slaiby, Sal being the manager of artists including The Weeknd, French Montana, and more. The campaign directed funds to Red Cross Lebanon, the United Nations World Food Programme, as well as the Children’s Cancer Center Lebanon (CCCL). 

Lebanon was already facing economic trouble before the August 4 explosion that destroyed the Port of Beirut, which handles 80% of the country’s imports, including food. The country has been experiencing high rates of unemployment, and COVID-19 further made day-to-day life for many a struggle. Human Rights Watch issued a report a week before the explosion warning of mass hunger across the country due to COVID-19.

As part of our commitment to the campaign, Globesight also called on its partners to join the campaign and help support the people of Lebanon during such trying times.

To read more about the campaign visit: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/info/global-aid-lebanon/

Syria remains afflicted by violence and war. As the years have passed since the conflict began in 2011, the focus of conversation has recently turned to the issue of reconstruction of the country. While the United States, European Union, and most international organizations have largely refrained from any substantive support for reconstruction in Syria without a political transition, many other countries have begun to engage, with varying degrees of intensity, in coordination with the Syrian government. There is a growing lack of overlap between the needs of Syrians on the ground, and the priorities and engagement in reconstruction of not only the Syrian government, but also of these external actors who are now involved in these efforts.

The report puts forward a framework highlighting the priority needs of Syrians in reconstruction across four dimensions: livelihoods, housing, infrastructure, and services. These sectors are analyzed in terms of previous lessons learned in cases of post-conflict reconstruction, as well as the pre-conflict reality in Syria. The external priorities and engagement in Syria of Russia, Iran, China, Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and various additional actors are addressed in particular, according to the framework of needs.

Russia, Iran, and China are largely focused on infrastructure that they believe will be financially and politically beneficial for their countries, with a limited lens on the development needs of the local Syrian population. Iran has also focused on financially rewarding infrastructure while also investing in strategic locations in Syria aligned with its political priorities in the region. Turkey’s efforts have concentrated in areas in the north over which they have varying degrees of control, motivated in part to see the return of Syrian refugees. Other countries also have varying levels of involvement, albeit currently limited.

There is a need for overall reconstruction of Syria to be guided along a core set of principles that improve livelihoods, build sustainable infrastructure, provide affordable housing, and enhance services. Through this lens, national and international institutions and policymakers can engage with countries, whether informally or formally, to adjust their efforts where possible to better serve the development outcomes for the local population.

Read the full report: http://globesight.com/gs_reports/framework-for-engaging-external-actors-in-reconstruction-in-syria/

Globesight is proud to announce at the Vatican that #RefugeesShine will launch in New York and Dubai in 2018. The campaign will show the most vulnerable among us in a different light.

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Globesight Executive Director, Taufiq Rahim joined Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former UNDP Administrator, and Mona Hammadi, Senior Director of the Office of Strategic Affairs, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, to discuss ideas on how to increase sustainable development finance flows during a research roundtable hosted by the Emirates Diplomatic Academy (EDA). The panel addressed how philanthropy remains a key source of development finance that can complement efforts of governments and agreed that more strategic, coordinated and innovative approaches to remittances and philanthropy are needed.

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‘Great Expectations: The Growth of Institutional Philanthropy in the United Arab Emirates’ is a new report by the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School with research partner Globesight. The report presents the first comprehensive study of the UAE philanthropic ecosystem, with a focus on institutional philanthropy, and its potential in the country.

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