Syria: Thousands of displaced people in northwestern Syria are receiving shelters, water and access to basic services
Since the end of 2019 more than one million people have been displaced by violence in Northwest Syria, bringing the total of displaced people in the area to 2.7 million. Thousands have been sleeping in the open air or living in inadequate shelters in overcrowded collective centers or informal settlements for months. The emergence of COVID-19 in the area now increases the risks people face in densely populated areas like these.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) – with support from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is working side by side with Syrian organizations Saed Charity Association and Bonyan Organization to provide a safe refuge and humanitarian assistance to more than 25,000 of these people (5,000 families). Camps in both Aleppo and Idleb are under construction and the local front-line organizations will be helping to transport people to the sites once construction concludes.
“We hope that through the establishment of these sites we will in some small part contribute to the restoration of human dignity and the provision of safe refuge for these highly vulnerable displaced families” said Martin Wyndham, IOM Senior Programme Coordinator for Syria Cross-Border.
Upon arrival, the new camp residents will receive non-food items, tents and information on feedback mechanisms. In the months to come, they will continue to receive WASH services, food, and items needed to survive the winter.
“We are putting all our efforts for the IDPs to have improved living conditions. I will feel content knowing that IDPs are living more comfortably and that we have contributed to relieving their burdens.” Said Ghalia Bubaqy, a Civil Engineer working on the project for Bonyan Organization.
Established as “a fund for all, by all”, CERF remains one of the fastest enablers of humanitarian action around the world, helping aid agencies save lives and protect people whenever and wherever they needed it most. In 2019 alone, CERF allocated a record US$539 million to UN and humanitarian organizations working at the front lines to help millions of crisis-affected people across 49 countries.