Hashtag for Syria

When the World Food Programme (WFP) suspended its food voucher operation for Syrian refugees last week due to a lack of funds, The National echoed the view that the world community can and must do more to ease the suffering of those made vulnerable by the crisis.

Since then, while many countries remained sitting on their wallets, the WFP did something extremely modern – it has launched a fund-raising campaign on social media, using the hashtag #ADollarALifeline. The idea is to collect just $1 (Dh3.67) each from 64 million people. It has been successful enough to allow the distribution of electronic food vouchers to resume in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

We hear too often that social media can be a haven for bullies, sexual predators and terrorists, so it’s a pleasure to acknowledge that somebody has found a way to make it a genuine force for good.