| The AMAR Appeal was set up in 1991
to deliver emergency humanitarian aid for refugees and displaced
people including the Marsh Arabs and other vulnerable communities
in the region. The founder, Emma Nicholson chairs a board of eminent
volunteers whose professional competences focus on health, education
and sound financial management. The AMAR philosophy rests on restoring
hope to troubled peoples and regards those whom it serves as partners
not as victims, always respecting cultural and community values.
AMAR’s key principle is to build local capacity, keeping
its international overheads to a minimum and employing qualified
local staff as much as possible. We draw support for all our
activities both regionally and internationally, and train local
professional staff. AMAR seeks help and expertise from the United
Nations and has a Memorandum of Understanding with the World
Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), as well as a Framework
Partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR). Other agreements are bilateral and with the EU.
Since 1991 AMAR has raised over £ 8 million, has employed
up to 89 Iraqi professional medical staff in Iran and 100 medical
staff work in AMAR’s Iraqi clinics. A further 65 medical
staff work for Afghan refugees in Iran. Until the end of 2003
AMAR had 122 Iraqi teachers working at schools in refugee camps
in Iran. AMAR has also trained over the past few years around
400 women (Iraqi, Iranian and Afghans) as Women Health Volunteers.
In Lebanon, AMAR employs 2 full-time medical staff and 15 part-time
medical training staff.
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