FSL

As the number of displaced people in rural Idlib reaches to about 400 thousand displaced according to the “Response Coordinators of northern Syria” on Monday, 05-02-2018, many humanitarian organizations are still working to provide the necessary needs of displaced families who are living in tragic conditions which is getting worse in the cold winter, However, there remains the need for more relief efforts and for the cooperation of all parties to stop this humanitarian tragedy.

Abu Hasan, one of the displaced people from the southern Aleppo countryside, struggles with his age to look after his grandchildren who lost their father seven months ago. “I have fled from my town in the southern countryside of Aleppo to the town of Atarb. I want to protect my grandchildren … I want to take them to a safe place”. But Abu Hassan could not take anything out of his house except what he could carry with his hands, he has the only clothes which he wears. Now, he lives in a camp with his family and three grandchildren. “We have fled the bombardment, but we are still under the threat of hunger and cold,” he said.

As part of its Emergency Response Plan (ERC), Ihsan for Relief and Development works to help the newly displaced families by providing food baskets, blankets, clothing and dignity kits, where IhsanRD in cooperation with the World Food Program (WFP) has distributed 2300 food basket in the area of ​​Aazaz and 3552 food baskets in the area of Atareb and Daret Azza, the basket contains Ready-to-eat food items sufficient a family for a week.

Mr. Wael, the project’s officer within the department of Emergency Response for IDPs at IhsanRD, said: “Humanitarian organizations have been very active in the north of Syria and Idlib in particular, supporting all sectors, including health, education and relief, but the longtime of this crisis and the recent massive wave of displacement calls for more efforts to provide the displaced with life-basic food, shelter and heating materials”.

After registering the farmers in the intercropping” project,  field verification visits have been conducted and standards tests were applied on seeds and fertilizers before being distributed to the farmers.

Last week, the tillage stage has been ended, followed by seeding the fields after the fertilizing process. Sowing seeds process was under the supervision of technical engineers and standard measurements according to the modern methods of tillage and sowing. Thus, plowing and sowing of one thousand one hundred twenty-five acres for about four hundred farmers have been completed within “Intercropping” project in the villages of Rastan and Talbisa in the northern Homs countryside.

Ahmed, the Project Officer of Intercropping project in the Food Security Program at IhsanRD said: “The importance of the project is to provide benefit to farmers in two ways:

As legume crops are an important source to feed farmers’ families, local people and as a source of income as well.

It also will contribute to benefit the olive trees and the renewal of soil fertility through planting legume crops.”

This project aims to support the food security and livelihoods of people in the northern Homs countryside through the provision of leguminous seeds for planting among fruit trees, as well as, providing fertilizers and tillage of land and partial support for irrigation.

The displacement movement continues from both eastern countryside of Idlib and Hama to inside Idlib province and border camps to escape armed clashes and heavy shelling which have started one month ago. Where some reports mentioned that more than 130 thousand displaced people in the recent days quoting the Response Room for the Displaced in the north of Syria. Mohammed Jafa, Coordinator of the Response said in a statement to Orient news: “The organizations were surprised by this enormous amount of displacement, the fact that they were not able to collect accurate statistics displaced people because of the complex displacement situation and ongoing battles, where response programs cannot be developed in the context of continuous displacement from place to place due to intensive shelling in the countryside of Idlib and Hama.

He added that all organizations need to develop programs to cope with the displacement, but the number of displaced people is getting crazy in a short time, with 150 thousand displaced so far and 200 families displaced on daily biases from the eastern regions. Some humanitarian organizations have provided some support, but it didn’t cope with the displacement volume.

He pointed out that this humanitarian situation requires direct international intervention to help this huge amount, because the displaced need tens of thousands of rations, in addition to thousands of tents, as the organizations are powerless in the disastrous situation of this wave of displacement.”

Ihsan for Relief and Development has launched an urgent distribution campaign of 230 food baskets within an Emergency Response Plan in Al-atarab area for newly displaced families from Sinjar and Eastern countryside of Hama. The food basket contains ready-to-eat items sufficient a family for a week.

A large number of the displaced people who arrived in nearby villages or who are sitting outdoors are still suffering from extreme cold, as an urgent intervention by humanitarian organizations is needed to provide shelter and heating at least to face the cold in winter.

At the end of the project, which was implemented by IhsanRD in partnership with the World Food Program (WFP) to distribute 4600 food kits in order to support the resilience of local communities and displaced families in the Jisr al-Shughour area and the surrounding villages, thanks cards were presented to local councils in the 37 villages where the project had been carried out.

IhsanRD has launched a food support project within the Emergency Response Plan for the Displaced in Southern Idlib countryside.

The project provides support to displaced families and host communities by distributing food vouchers to 500 families in the villages of Hazareen, Kafr Awaid and Al-Fatira. This voucher allows the family to purchase food items according to the needs of each household, valued at $ 60 per family.

These vouchers can be exchanged with food in the suppliers stores whom authorized  by IhsanRD and attended the training that the project team has held few days ago about the security features of food vouchers, vouchers exchanging and complaint mechanisms.

Um Jamal, one of the beneficiaries of the food vouchers, expressed her feelings about the project. “The food voucher system is much better than the distribution of baskets directly, so I can choose the food and goods that my family needs, and allow me to go to the store to shop at the time which suits me))

In addition to food vouchers, food baskets continue to be distributed as part of the emergency response plan for 1250 families in the western Aleppo countryside targeting the most vulnerable families within refugee hosting communities according to specific criterias that take the consideration of the situation of displacement of the family and the presence of individuals with special needs or be the breadwinner of the family of women or children and families of widows.

The war in Syria did not exclude any civilians and did not differentiate between men, women or children. The suffering was often more severe and cruel for women, many of whom became widows after losing the head of the family to find themselves responsible for their children.

Om Issam, a widow from Daraa said “After losing my husband two years ago, my family suffered from financial and emotional difficulties. I had to be the source of safety for my young children so that they would not feel empty of their father’s loss.” She says: “The situation of war is harsh for everyone but I have to think about my children and how to provide them with living”

Because the Syrian women have their special place in the society and home, and because they are capable of producing and manufacturing and have the will to support themselves and their families, IhsanRD has launched a new project to support and empower women in Daraa governorate by establishing three food processing centers, which are operated by 12 Syrian women, IhsanRD selected these women among the most vulnerable people of widowed women who are responsible for their families and who were directly affected by the war in Syria.

The centers produce yogurt and cheese with a production capacity up to 350 kilos of milk per day, this milk is secured by IhsanRD team after completing the establishment activities of the 3 centers with the best equipment to run.

Ahmed the project manager at IhsanRD said: “The objective of the food processing centers project is to provide the necessary support to vulnerable, where the project will have a financial return for them and the local communities. The project will also have a psychological impact; the centers will be safe spaces for these women to feel relieved from hardship and difficulties of life”

At this stage, work is underway to train women working in the centers to be qualified and able to manage and operate the centers on their own through courses in business administration, financial management and sales, and purchasing.

The Food Products Processing Centers project is one of the projects being undertaken by IhsanRD in order to support and empower Syrian women in several governorates, such as the project of supporting household products in Idlib governorate, launched by IhsanRD last month.

The workers registered with IhsanRD continue to work on rehabilitating some food facilities in the northern Homs countryside as part of the cash-for-work project and completing the practical and theoretical construction studies after the arrival of the rest of the materials for the construction of production lines.

The cash-for-work project provides job opportunities for 250 workers between ordinary workers and craftsmen, a financial allowance will be provided to them for their services as part of the project to rehabilitate the food facilities in the northern countryside of Homs, thus preserving their dignity and allowing local communities to benefit from their efforts.

Through its activities, the project aims to enhance food security and support the resilience of the population in the besieged areas.

Within the project implemented by IhsanRD in collaboration with WHH and funded by the German Foreign Office to strengthening the food security and livelihood of the population in the north of Syria, winter irrigation support vouchers were distributed to 800 farmers in the western countryside of Aleppo. The project includes two main activities: The first aspect includes providing 800 farmers in the western Aleppo countryside with irrigation support coupons and vouchers that allow them to purchase agricultural inputs from Ihsan-contracted suppliers within the project areas.

The second aspect includes community support for bread, where 4,000 breads are distributed daily in Idleb governorate.

More than 13.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria, while the number of IDPs is 6.3 million more than half of them are children. While the Syrians suffer from the high cost of living and the deterioration of economic conditions as a result of the war that has been going on for 6 years, which has significantly affected the value of the Syrian pound and the high prices of foodstuffs in the market, which calls for continuous intervention of humanitarian organizations and agencies to deliver more food assistance indispensable to The most vulnerable families in Syria.

Ihsan for Relief and Development has launched a new project within the Food Security and Livelihoods Program aimed at supporting the most vulnerable families within refugee hosting communities in the western countryside of Aleppo by providing food baskets monthly to 1,250 families for 11 months.

One basket contains sufficient needs for a family for one month of flour, rice, groats, lentils, oil, chickpeas, salt, tomato molasses, and pasta. Where the contents of the food basket were studied by IhsanRD team to suit the basic needs of the family and the selection of families according to specific criterias that take the consideration of the situation of displacement of the family and the presence of individuals with special needs or be the breadwinner of the family of women or children and families of widows.