Shamsa bint Hamdan Al-Nahyan supports relief activities in response to the refugee crisis in Europe

Europe is witnessing its most dramatic influx of refugees since the end of World War II. Vast numbers of refugees, mainly from Syria, but also from Iraq, Eritrea and Afghanistan are fleeing from civil war and conflict resulting in desperate attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe where they hope to find safety and shelter.

Since the beginning of 2015, more than 500,000 people have arrived in Europe across the Mediterranean with a sharp increase in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as countries fail to adequately respond to needs of the newly-arrived refugees.

In view of this unfolding crisis, H.H. Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, the President and founder of Women And Health Alliance (WAHA) International has underlined " the moral imperative to save the lives of refugees in peril, and in particular to provide care and support for the women and girls who are often the most vulnerable among them."

At her request, WAHA International has come to the support of the refugees, and notably the women and children as they embark on their perilous journey to the European Union. WAHA is providing medical services to women and children in multiple countries all along the key points in the main refugee routes through a networked series of mobile clinics and in collaboration with several local associations. From Izmir in Turkey, from where most of the refugees take to the sea, to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos and the Balkan countries of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, WAHA is ensuring that women and children are provided with essential medical care as well as nutritional and hygiene support for their children.

WAHA International is an international non-profit organisation founded by H.H. Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan in 2009, with headquarters in France. The organisation undertakes a wide range of activities to improve maternal and child health in disadvantaged communities throughout the world. Since its foundation, WAHA has carried out activities in 28 countries, many of which are crisis settings which have been affected by natural disasters, conflicts or epidemics of infectious diseases.