Driving digital impact worldwide with Medical Aid for Palestinians
We’ve rebuilt Medical Aid for Palestinians’ website on Wagtail CMS, creating a fast, multilingual platform that helps them mobilise support, reach global audiences, and deliver vital humanitarian work.
Medical Aid for Palestinians
The background
When humanitarian crises strike, organisations need digital infrastructure that can scale as fast as the emergency itself. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) knows this reality, their income surged to £34.7 million in 2023 as the world responded to the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza following Israel’s military attacks and siege, but their 2017 website couldn't keep pace. Now, as they aim to reach more communities and enable one million Palestinians to access quality and effective healthcare every year, they need technology that matches their ambitions.
We were selected as MAP's digital partner to transform their online presence and power their next phase of impact.
We chose Torchbox because they understand the urgency and scale of humanitarian work. Their expertise in digital transformation meant we could trust them to deliver a website that grows with us, not just today, but well into the future.
Max Slaughter Strategic Communications and Media Manager
Vital humanitarian work
MAP's work has never been more crucial. They work with Palestinian communities and trusted local partners in the occupied Palestinian territory and Lebanon to provide vital medical aid in emergencies, whilst developing better health services for the long term. They campaign tirelessly for an end to the barriers to health and dignity that come from living through occupation, displacement, discrimination and conflict.
The challenge? Their previous website simply wasn't equipped to support their urgent mission. With humanitarian needs escalating and funding windows narrowing, MAP couldn’t afford digital delays that limited their ability to mobilise support when crises hit.
Every moment counts when responding to crises. We simply can’t afford a website that slows us down. Our digital presence has to be as responsive and scalable as the crises we respond to.
Maddie Powell Digital Communications Manager
Side-by-side screenshots showing the English and Arabic versions of the site.
Building for global reach
Our project delivered a transformed digital presence on Wagtail CMS, with powerful multilingual capabilities at its core. The new website launched in English and Arabic, with the flexibility to add additional languages as MAP strengthens connections with global supporters and international partners.
The site delivers everything MAP needs to make it easier for people to support their work, strengthen engagement, deliver campaigns and share vital updates: dynamic emergency response pages, optimised donation flows, and seamless connections with their new Microsoft Dynamics CRM system.
Designing for culture and flexibility
Designing the new MAP website meant thinking carefully about how content works across languages and cultures.
MAP’s visual identity draws on bold typography, strong colour and motifs inspired by Palestinian architecture. Our role was to translate that into a digital experience that works clearly and consistently in both left-to-right and right-to-left languages, without compromising accessibility.
We designed flexible layouts and components to support a wide range of stories, and used AI to rapidly prototype and stress-test content in both Arabic and Western languages, ensuring the system worked seamlessly in either direction.
The design principles we developed with MAP to guide the project
Wagtail for humanitarian organisations
While MAP initially planned to migrate to Drupal, the team ultimately decided that Wagtail was the better choice. They join the likes of Oxfam, Samaritans, and RNIB who trust Wagtail with their flagship websites. Wagtail's powerful multilingual capabilities will drive their international presence.
In addition, Wagtail’s superior security record compared to Drupal or WordPress was a consideration as humanitarian organisations face mounting cyber threats. The intuitive editing experience empowers MAP's team to update content efficiently, and the Python foundation delivers the tech stack needed for future integrations.
Wagtail gives us the multilingual capabilities and security we need, while being intuitive enough for our team to manage quickly during emergencies. It’s the platform that allows us to act without delay.
Edd Rhodes Digital Fundraising Manager
Looking ahead
We’re continuing to work closely with MAP’s team to evolve their digital platform to reflect their brand and support their life-changing work.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. When MAP needs to mobilise support during a crisis, the technology has to work flawlessly. That's the standard we hold ourselves to, because for these organisations, digital failure isn't just inconvenient, it's potentially life-changing.
With a flexible, future-ready website, we can reach more Palestinians in need, share their stories, and help them access the healthcare and support they deserve, while deepening engagement with our supporters.
Max Slaughter Strategic Communications and Media Manager
Ready to transform your humanitarian response?
Get in touch to discuss how we can help scale your digital impact and build technology that matches the urgency of your mission.
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