The histories and geographies of Syria and Yemen are portraits in contrast among the nations of the modern Middle East. Syria has been central to the region since biblical times, and remains so today. Some 1,500 miles southwest, Yemen is a politically weak peripheral player, sitting at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, marginalized by …
32-year-old Fadumo Mohamed is from Lower Shabelle, a region in southern Somalia, not far from the capital Mogadishu. Named after the river that farming communities have relied on for centuries, the area is a microcosm for the multi-layered crisis that has been battering Somalia and its people since the 1990s. The situation in Lower Shabelle …
Irbid is a city in northern Jordan, located 43 miles north of the capital Amman and only a short drive from the Syrian border. I recently returned from Irbid, where—among other things—International Medical Corps runs a maternity ward, thanks to the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). The facility supports …
Note from the editor: In this article, published to observe Human Rights Day, International Medical Corps reflects on the importance of health as a human right. We also share some examples from the frontlines, where our committed healthcare workers put theory into practice, helping people who have had their lives ripped apart by conflict to …
“I want to name her Joury [rose], after my favorite flower. Hopefully, her days will be rosier than mine.” This is what Rania* told the doctor when she delivered her third daughter and was asked to name her. Rania is a 33-year-old displaced Syrian residing in a small town in Southern Lebanon. She has three …
In the spring of 2015, one year after joining International Medical Corps in Yemen as a Health and Nutrition Program Assistant, Doa’a was forced to flee her home with her family because their neighborhood was no longer safe. On that day, Doa’a became an internally displaced person (IDP)—an experience that has given her unique insights …
Last year, I visited Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan as part of a project that aimed to highlight maternal health, as well as the plight—and resilience—of refugee women. International Medical Corps runs the only fully equipped hospital inside Azraq Camp, where staff members deliver an average of 120 healthy babies each month. During my week-long …
The UN’s refugee agency recently warned that, for the first time since records began, the number of people who have been forced from their homes has exceeded 70 million. Half of the world’s refugees originate from just three countries: Syria, South Sudan and Afghanistan. Syria alone accounts for 6.3 million of them, making it one …
My trip to Jordan with International Medical Corps gave me an opportunity to see a side of the Syrian refugee crisis that I did not expect: happiness. Whether it emanated from the faces of children at the Makani Centers in Amman or Irbid, or the new mom in Azraq camp who treasured feeling safe with …
By official estimates, 1.4m people have poured into Jordan from Syria’s civil war alone. Disaster-relief groups like the International Medical Corps, which runs the Jabal Amman clinic, came to help.