Anera
Impact Snapshot
Focus Area: Humanitarian Aid, Women’s Health, and Refugee Support
Who They Serve: Refugees and vulnerable communities, including women and children
Where: Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan
Why This Matters:
In conflict and displacement settings, women face heightened and often overlooked risks, from lack of access to safe medical care to increased exposure to violence, poverty, and exploitation. These conditions directly undermine women’s safety, dignity, and long-term equality.
How This Organization Advances Women’s Equality:
Anera delivers critical, on-the-ground humanitarian aid that supports women’s health, nutrition, and survival in crisis zones. Their work helps protect women’s dignity and access to care in some of the most dangerous and unstable conditions in the world.
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About the Organization
Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1968 that provides humanitarian assistance and long-term development support in the Middle East.
With deep roots in the communities they serve, Anera operates directly on the ground, delivering food, medical aid, education, and infrastructure support to refugees and vulnerable populations.
Their approach is both immediate and long-term. They respond to urgent crises while also investing in sustainable programs that help communities rebuild and regain stability.
In regions like Gaza and the West Bank, where access to resources is severely restricted, Anera’s presence is often a lifeline.
The Problem They’re Addressing
Conflict and displacement create layered and gendered risks for women.
In places like Gaza, ongoing violence, blockades, and infrastructure collapse have made daily survival increasingly difficult. For women, these conditions are even more severe:
- Limited access to safe maternal healthcare and skilled birth support
- Malnutrition that impacts both women and breastfeeding infants
- Severe period poverty, with lack of access to basic hygiene products
- Increased vulnerability to sexual violence, exploitation, and child marriage
- Economic instability that disproportionately affects women and female-headed households
Globally, displaced women and girls are significantly more likely to experience gender-based violence, and far less likely to have access to consistent medical care.
In Gaza specifically, the destruction of healthcare infrastructure has left many women without access to prenatal care, emergency services, or safe delivery conditions.
These are not just health challenges. They are direct threats to women’s dignity, autonomy, and survival.
Their Work in Action
Anera provides essential, life-sustaining support in some of the most difficult conditions.
Their work includes:
- Delivering food aid and nutrition support, including for pregnant and breastfeeding women
- Supplying medical aid and health services, often in areas with limited or no functioning healthcare systems
- Distributing hygiene kits and menstrual products to address period poverty
- Supporting local healthcare providers and infrastructure
- Providing emergency relief during active conflict and displacement
What makes Anera’s work especially impactful is their deep local presence. Their teams are embedded in the communities they serve, allowing them to respond quickly and effectively even during ongoing crises.
This work is not abstract. It is immediate, practical, and often life-saving.
Why Support is Critical Right Now
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached devastating levels, with civilians facing continuous displacement, infrastructure collapse, and limited access to basic necessities.
Aid organizations like Anera are operating under extreme conditions, and the risks are real.
In 2024, Anera experienced a profound loss when one of their team members, a respected local director, was killed in an airstrike alongside his son. This tragedy reflects the reality that humanitarian workers on the ground are not separate from the crisis. They are living it.
At the same time:
- Access to aid is frequently restricted or delayed
- Demand for food, medical care, and shelter continues to rise
- Women and children remain among the most vulnerable populations
Without sustained support, organizations like Anera face increasing challenges in reaching those who need help most.
Why Every Woman is Worthy Supports This Work
At Every Woman is Worthy®, we recognize that women’s equality cannot exist without basic survival, safety, and access to care.
In crisis zones, women are often the last to receive resources and the first to feel the impact of scarcity, violence, and instability.
Organizations like Anera are working to close that gap by ensuring women have access to food, healthcare, and dignity in the most challenging environments.
Supporting this work means standing with women who are navigating not only inequality, but active crisis.
How to Support
- Visit: https://www.anera.org/
- Donate: https://www.anera.org/donate/
Sharing their work also helps raise awareness and expand support for communities that are too often overlooked.
Help Us Fast-Track Women’s Equality
Supporting organizations like Anera helps ensure that women in crisis are not left without care, protection, or dignity. Every action matters. When we invest in women’s survival and well-being, we move closer to a world where every woman is valued and protected.