Copenhagen, 0106 2015.The Danish Red Cross (DRC) together with the consortium partners, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), German Red Cross (GRC) and Norwegian Red Cross (NRCS) have successfully completed a comprehensive project to provide emergency health care, relief and logistical support for the humanitarian operation in Syria, supported by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO).
Under the now already more than four years ongoing violent conflict in Syria that has been forcing more than 11 million people to leave their homes into displacement or to leave the country, humanitarian assistance with emergency health care, basic hygiene materials and other relief items is indispensable for the survival and minimum living conditions of the affected families.
The project implemented by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) reached 1,148,322 people between April 2014 and March 2015, among them 591,386 women, 556,936 men, including 183,732 children under age of five.
For the third year in a row the Red Cross / Red Crescent partners provided treatment and medication to 430,986 IDP’s and vulnerable population through 15 health facilities established mostly in “hot” areas in Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, Rural Damascus, Al Hasakeh, Deir ez-Zour, and Idleb governorates. These health facilities were provided with all necessary resources for their proper functioning, staffing, as well as adequate medicine and medical equipment.
SARC distributed 100,695 blankets, 32,675 mats, and 32,702 mattresses to the IDPs and host families in the governorate of Aleppo, Damascus, Rural Damascus, Al Sweida, Homs, Dara’a, Idleb, and Tartous, helping 80,589 families (399,922 people) to protect themselves from the impact of the extremely harsh conditions during last winter.
With the distribution of 68,523 baby kits, 47,365 hygiene kits, 11,964 hygiene kits for special needs,63,472 additional families (317,362 people) in the governorates of Homs, Aleppo, Al Raqqah, Rural Damascus, Damascus, Al Sweida, and Dara’a could be covered.
The project also supported the operation of SARC’s main logistics centre in Tartous, which has six huge storage compounds and one cool-chain storage facility, covering all running cost, equipment and machines, as well as the salary of the necessary team of 52 warehouse staff, who have received adequate training to operate the centre according to international standards. The warehouse can manage an average turn-over of up to 120,000 relief parcels a month, and during peak sessions, it can accommodate more than 250,000 relief parcels.
ECHO has been supporting the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement in the build-up, expansion and upgrading of the logistics centre, as well as with emergency health points, hygiene and winterization relief items through 2 similar projects in the past and will continue to do so with a recently approved follow-up grant under the Syria Humanitarian Implementation Plan for 2015.
The Commission's European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) was established in 1992. In 2004 ECHO became the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid before integrating Civil Protection in 2010 for a better coordination and disaster response inside and outside Europe. Since its creation 22 years ago, ECHO has provided emergency assistance and relief to the most vulnerable people in the most conflicts and disaster-prone regions.
More information on the European commission Humanitarian Aid Department can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm