Statistics shows that disease and associated death rates among under-5 children are higher than for any other age group.

Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — The conflict that rages on in Syria has severely crippled the country's power plants as well as damaged major roads needed to transport heating fuel during the coldest time of year, while violence, sanctions and instability in the region have led to critical fuel shortages. As thousands of displaced families and elderly throughout Syria struggle to stay warm on nights that dip below freezing, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding with winter relief to more than 30,000 Syrian families.

Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — The rising hostilities between Israel and Gaza has claimed at least 100 lives – more than half of them Palestinian civilians – and left 600 more injured in Gaza. While the world watches to see whether the tension continues to escalate, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is on the ground in Gaza, assessing the most urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian families caught in the conflict.

Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — Sabah, a mother of eight, was home alone with her youngest child when a fiery skirmish struck near her doorstep in Damascus. The two fled to a nearby school to seek shelter. As the fighting spread, Sabah and her young son moved onto a second and then third shelter, seeking safer living arrangements. While Sabah hopes that her seven older children are with their father, she has had no contact with any of them, nor received any news of their whereabouts.

Baltimore, MD (IOCC) — Tropical storm Isaac's unleashing of wind and water on Haiti last Saturday left more than two dozen people dead, washed away precious food crops, and destroyed the tents that still house hundreds of thousands of survivors of the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The tropical storm tore through tents and makeshift homes offering no protection from torrential downpour and the renewed threat of highly-contagious waterborne diseases like cholera.

Gaza 14 June 2012: Fifty international charities and United Nations Agencies have unanimously called for the lifting of the blockade of Gaza. The organizations have published a simple three line statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the tightening of the blockade of the Strip.

It reads:

For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: “end the blockade now.”

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is taking steps to assist the growing number of Syrian families displaced throughout their country and a rising number of Syrian refugees who are arriving to the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

As the young refugee children of Somalia's famine begin to regain their strength under the watchful care of international relief organizations, many are heading back to class in one of the several elementary schools existing in the refugee camp of Bokolomanyo and other nearby camps in Dolo Ado, Ethiopia. For their older brothers and sisters, the nearest high school is more than 60 miles away leaving displaced refugee families desperate to find an accessible and safe place for their adolescent sons and daughters to complete their education.

As church liturgy concludes at St. Mikael's Church in Assela, Ethiopia, loudspeakers announce the availability of free HIV testing for couples and pregnant women. Mesay, a 30-year-old expectant mother dressed in her Sunday best, steps over to the nearby tent to be tested for the HIV virus for the first time. Older women volunteers, trusted members of the community, mill about the crowd and encourage other mothers and couples to get tested for the well-being of their family's future.