We stand with colleagues in Lebanon and call for peace

15 October 2024

Earlier this month, the ReBUILD for Resilience Consortium conducted its annual meeting in Sierra Leone. As usual, all consortium partners were invited and attended, except the team from American University of Beirut.

The absence of our colleagues from Lebanon cast a shadow over our time in Freetown; colleagues who are integral to our mission of supporting the resilience of health systems in fragile and shock-prone settings.

Many of our researchers work in dangerous environments: environments beset by natural disasters, political challenges, conflict, poverty and dysfunction. They show remarkable commitment and tenacity. However, the trend toward more frequent and protracted violent conflict has taken its toll on our researchers, their work and the countries they serve.

The bombings and ground invasion in Lebanon have rocked us. This new disaster compounds the repeated political, economic and social shocks that the country has dealt with for decades. They have put our researchers, the communities we seek to support, and the health sector staff we work with in mortal danger. Lebanon now stands on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

We are in a situation where researchers – who are specialists in understanding and supporting health systems resilience in times of strife and struggle – are unable to share their knowledge and live free of fear and distress. The intentional destruction of infrastructure, including health facilities, places a significant burden on our community health workers who struggle to provide assistance while staying safe. Health has been described as ‘a bridge to peace’, and our researchers have helped to build that metaphorical bridge. Their voices must be heard. The same is true of our colleagues and partners in Palestine, Myanmar, Yemen and Syria.

There is no health without peace.

We stand with the American University of Beirut [opens new tab] in its call that we raise our voices, “For peace, dignity, and for safeguarding people’s lives and health, and to demand an end to this war and every war.”

We call on the international community to act to uphold the law and human rights and stop the weaponisation of health care.