At the United Nations, world leaders debate how to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. European nations argue about how many Syrian refugees they will allow into their countries while more than 400,000 wait on their doorstep.
But countries closer to the Syrian war didn't have the luxury of time or distance to deal with 10 times that number when the crisis erupted more than four years ago.
They opened their doors, their land and their resources to men, women and children who fled for their lives.
UNHCR estimates there are more than 4 million refugees in the region bordering Syria. There are more than 1.2 million in Lebanon alone, about one fourth of the population. And, their numbers grow by the day.
Lebanon's capacity to respond to the crisis has steadily diminished. The needs increase with no signs of easing. Lebanon's resources are strained beyond reason. Local communities that once opened their doors without hesitation are overwhelmed by the enormity of the crisis and can no longer cope.
While wealthier nations now try to figure out how to handle the crisis, humanitarian organizations have been on the job for years aiding the most vulnerable families who remain behind in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and inside Syria itself.
With the shortage of funding for the major international and UN agencies, humanitarian organizations like ANERA have stepped up their efforts to fill the gap. But they cannot do it alone. This crisis is testing the resolve of world leaders. It is also demanding more sustainable help from private and public organizations and individuals.
When the refugees arrived in Lebanon exhausted and traumatized, they had little money, clothes, food and medicine to last but a few weeks. Nearly five years later they are still there. Their savings are gone. The Syrian and Palestinian women and children huddling in Lebanon's makeshift tents, abandoned buildings or the already overcrowded refugee camps are the most vulnerable victims of Syria's war.
They can't return home. They can't move on to more uncertain futures. And they cannot survive without help.
In the short term, help means delivering more blankets and warm clothing, hygiene kits, medicines and food supplies to face the coming cold, wet winter. Nobody wants to see a repeat of last year's photos of children freezing to death because they had no blankets or shelter to keep them safe and alive.
But, we also need to look beyond today because this humanitarian crisis is not going away. Our experience shows that education is an effective, sustainable tool to help Palestinian and Syrian refugees make the best of their new reality and restore a sense of purpose and dignity.
Most refugee youngsters have not attended school since they arrived in Lebanon four years ago, mostly because they need to find whatever work they can to help support their families. ANERA, for one, has joined with local organizations to set up free vocational training to teach refugee youth marketable skills like carpentry, plumbing, hairdressing or catering and remedial classes in math, computers and English.
We have witnessed how acquiring a skill and the hope of landing a decent job or pursuing an education restores self-confidence. Britain recently promised $90 million to Lebanon to help fund education for Syrian refugees. The US just announced it will add more than $400 million in aid for the refugees. The European Union and other nations should follow their example.
We also cannot ignore Lebanon's poorer rural communities who have so generously welcomed refugees but who now are themselves increasingly vulnerable. They can no longer support the extra strain on water networks, sewage treatment and electricity. Tensions have increased as local populations compete with desperate refugees for jobs and resources in an increasingly fragile economy.
Humanitarian groups have partnered with community organizations to improve basic services and expand sports and other programs to help ease tensions. But more needs to be done to invest in the development of these fragile states and protect their stability.
We have accomplished a great deal thanks to the quiet and steadfast generosity of our donors. But we can and must do more. Only a lack of resources slows our efforts.
It is time for the international community to join forces and double its assistance to ease the suffering. As conditions deteriorate we cannot turn our backs on those remaining in the Middle East. This crisis is far from over.---For 47 years, the US non-profit has provided health, education and development services to improve the lives of people in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. ---