GiveDirectly Prepares Emergency Cash Relief for Families Affected by Middle East Conflict

Leading Direct Cash Nonprofit Is Currently Monitoring Three Regions for Rapid Cash Deployment as US-Israeli Strikes on Iran Displace Over 100,000 People

NEW YORK — GiveDirectly, one of the largest and most trusted direct cash relief organizations in the world, is actively preparing to deploy emergency cash transfers to families affected by the escalating Middle East conflict. The nonprofit, which has delivered more than $1 billion directly to more than 2 million people across 15 countries over the past decade, is monitoring three regions where it may launch emergency cash responses: Lebanon, Turkey and neighboring countries, and its existing operations across Africa where fuel and food price shocks are hitting the poorest families hardest.

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began February 28 have triggered a fast-moving humanitarian and economic crisis. Around 100,000 people have fled Tehran in the first two days following the attacks, according to local estimates. In Lebanon, heavy displacement is being reported across the south, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, with approximately 30,000 people registered at government-designated collective shelters and many more sleeping in cars or stuck on roads leaving the south.

What GiveDirectly Is Doing

GiveDirectly is using a rigorous, evidence-based framework to assess whether and where to launch cash relief programs in response to the Middle East conflict. The organization is evaluating four key factors across the three target regions:

• Poverty level: Are impacted families already very poor and unlikely to receive sufficient government aid?
• Displacement and damage: Are people fleeing in major numbers, and are homes damaged or destroyed?
• Cash feasibility: Can GiveDirectly deliver payments via mobile money, and can the organization enroll and pay families remotely and safely?
• Secondary shock indicators: Are food and fuel prices rising fast enough in existing countries of operation to justify targeted top-up payments?

GiveDirectly’s emergency cash fund allows the organization to move within days of identifying a viable path to reach families, rather than waiting weeks for traditional fundraising cycles to catch up to fast-moving events.

Why Cash Relief Works in Conflict and Disaster Settings

GiveDirectly is among the most evidence-backed humanitarian organizations in the world, with a model built on a simple premise: send money directly to people in crisis and let them decide what they need most. Research consistently shows that people affected by crises prefer cash over donated goods.

Cash transfers delivered by GiveDirectly help families cover:

• Food, water, and medicine when supply chains are disrupted
• Transport and shelter for displaced families fleeing conflict zones
• Mobile airtime and healthcare costs to stay connected and access medical care
• Rebuilding homes, farms, and businesses after the immediate crisis stabilizes

Cash can be delivered quickly and remotely, bypassing fragile supply chains and letting families meet their own needs rather than waiting for others to guess for them. This makes direct cash transfers one of the fastest and most efficient forms of humanitarian aid in conflict and disaster settings, according to GiveDirectly.

GiveDirectly’s Track Record in Emergency Cash Response

GiveDirectly has a proven track record of deploying emergency cash within days of major crises. The organization has responded rapidly to disasters including:

• Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, where GiveDirectly delivered $650 cash transfers to more than 2,530 people in five communities across St. Elizabeth Parish — the hardest-hit area of the island — after the first Category 5 hurricane to ever strike Jamaica destroyed an estimated 90% of homes in the region.
• The Los Angeles wildfires in California, where GiveDirectly partnered with Propel to deliver $3,500 cash transfers to over 1,000 low-income families in the hardest-hit areas, enrolling survivors fully remotely through an app used to manage food stamp benefits — no additional documentation required. The response came after the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history displaced over 180,000 people.
• The 2023 earthquake in southern Turkey, where GiveDirectly delivered cash transfers to over 1,000 families — including Syrian refugee micro-entrepreneurs and low-income workers — across the hardest-hit regions of Hatay, Adana, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa. 94% of recipients reported that their homes completely destroyed or damaged.
• Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the United States, where GiveDirectly used SKAI — a Google-developed AI tool that compares pre- and post-disaster satellite imagery with poverty data — to identify the hardest-hit, lowest-income households across North Carolina and Florida. Partnering with Propel, GiveDirectly delivered $1,000 cash transfers to over 1,600 families within days, not weeks, completed remotely with no additional paperwork required.

In each case, donors who contributed to GiveDirectly’s emergency cash fund enabled the organization to act in days, not weeks.

Over the past decade, GiveDirectly has delivered cash to more than 2 million people across 15 countries. The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York, and all donations are tax-deductible in the United States.

How To Help Families Affected by the Middle East Conflict

Individuals who want to help families affected by the Middle East conflict can donate to GiveDirectly’s emergency cash fund at www.givedirectly.org/middle-east-2026. Donations go to the flexible emergency cash fund, which GiveDirectly will draw from to launch a Middle East response as soon as a viable path is identified, and which also supports families affected by other disasters worldwide.

GiveDirectly accepts credit and debit cards, PayPal, checks, wires, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other payment methods. For major gifts or corporate partnerships, contact info@givedirectly.org.

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is one of the largest and most trusted direct cash transfer organizations in the world. Founded in 2009, the nonprofit sends money directly to the world’s poorest people with no strings attached. GiveDirectly has delivered cash to more than 2 million people across 15 countries, and rigorously researches the impact of cash transfers on families in need. The organization’s focus areas include poverty relief, emergency cash response, climate survival, refugee support, and basic income programs. GiveDirectly is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in New York. Tax EIN: 27-1661997.

For more information, visit www.givedirectly.org.

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