The Order of Malta in Lebanon has actively participated in the well-established “Make a WISH to the Order of Malta project”, which provides balanced and nutritious meals to deprived persons and is run by the Order of Malta’s embassy in the Principality of Monaco.

The objective of “WISH” is to offer – through the Sovereign Order of Malta’s Association in Lebanon – meals adapted to the specific needs of those in need, as well as providing access to drinking water for the elderly. The initiative has raised a total of almost 30,000 euro, rapidly converted into aid for the Lebanese population.

Due to ongoing hostilities along the Blue Line, over 86,000 people (52 per cent women) have been displaced from southern Lebanon. On the socio-economic front, the country’s currency has lost about 95 per cent of its value, banks have frozen the savings of most depositors and more than 80 per cent of the population has fallen below the poverty line, 36 per cent below the extreme poverty threshold, while 90 per cent of Syrian refugees are unable to meet their basic needs.

In a longstanding situation with multiple simultaneous crises, and with the social and economic crisis worsening after 2019, the Order of Malta’s Lebanese Association is playing a leading role in providing medical and social assistance to people in need. It manages over ten clinics and several mobile medical units, as well as disability assistance projects and programs to support the elderly. In recent years it has also implemented agri-food initiatives to support and stimulate the economies of local rural communities.

The Association’s president has expressed his profound gratitude for the support given to the initiative launched by the Order of Malta’s embassy in the Principality of Monaco.  In recent years the city-state has supported numerous projects specifically for Lebanon.