Give Support to 800 Syrian Refugee Families

Since the beginning of the war in Syria and Iraq, the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has supported the partner organizations with around 15 million euros, helping more than half a million people. In order to reach even more people, we are dependent on your donations.

One Main country for the refugees is Turkey. Most of the refugees who seek shelter in the project areas Batman and Diyarbakir are from the Syrian-Turkish border region, mainly from the cities of Aleppo and Hassakeh. About one-third of refugee families complained about the death of at least one relative. In addition to the traumatic experiences they had in their homeland and on the run, this is another reason for the urgent need for psychosocial help. Half of all refugees are children and most of them suffer from severe trauma.

Cash transfer - make decisions yourself

We implemented a program in Turkey together with our local partner organization Support to Life (STL) since May 2015, which concentrates on the financial support of the refugees. The refugees are supported by cash transfers. Especially needy households are given a money card for three months, which is charged monthly with 62 Turkish Lira per person. This sum is intended primarily to cover the basic food requirements. It is based on general guidelines for the minimum daily intake of nutrients.

Achievements visible

In the meantime more than 70,000 mainly Syrian refugees have been provided by the program. Our partner, STL, has had experience with this type of humanitarian aid since 2013 and found out that families who received money cards are now able to get regularly meals and to consume foodstuffs such as eggs, milk or meat products. Every three months, it was examined whether the beneficiaries would receive a money card for a further three months or whether there would be more needy refugees. With this additional income, people can set priorities and decide for themselves what they spend their money at what time. This allows them to preserve their dignity and freedom of decision.

We are able to offer this necessary aid with support by the European Union but especially thank your donations.

Thank you for this strong support! Please feel encouraged to support our work furthermore, so that we can help even more refugees affected by the conflict in Syria.

Dear Supporters,

at this place iwant to give you an overwiev of the situation in Sria and our efforts to help the refugees in the region.

The wave of violence has no end in Syria and Iraq. The Syrian Civil War has become even more complex and violent in the sixth year - a humanitarian disaster for the entire region. Millions of people are on the run.

In the spring of 2012 - about a year after the beginning of the war in Syria - the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe started its aid program for the people who were displaced within the country because of the heavy fighting or sought protection in the neighboring countries. In 2014, relief efforts were extended to the north of Iraq to support the people who are fleeing within their own country.

We help especially refugee families who live outside the official camps, and support communities that receive displaced persons. That is about 85 percent.

Together with our local partners, we provide people in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey with relief supplies to meet their basic needs. In order to strengthen the Syrian and Iraqi refugee families as well as to cope with the challenges of everyday life on their own, we organize self-help groups and educational offers together with our partners and offer playful activities for children and young people.

The situation in Jordania

657,000 Syrian refugees are registered in Jordania. More than half of them are children under 18 years of age. About 100,000 Syrians live in the two major Jordanian refugee camps, Za'atari and Azraq, the largest refugee camps in the Middle East.

Most of the refugees also live in camps not in Jordania, but in villages near the border or larger cities. They are much more difficult to reach for relief organizations. The adequate supply with food or medical services is not ensured. In some villages and communities, the number of Syrian refugees now exceeds the number of inhabitants. A large proportion of the refugees are struggling with rising debts and dependency of humanitarian aid. However, the refugees who are living unregistered outside the camps do not have an official demand of humanitarian aid. They are in risk to be sent back to Syria. Our goal is to help the most needy of them and also the host communities.

Together with our partner IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities), we supplied last winter more than 2,200 needy Syrian and Jordanian families with winter clothes and blankets. Currently, 1,000 families are supported with rental allowances, so that they do not lose their shelter. In addition, 1,200 families are supplied with food and hygiene vouchers. In the selection of Syrian refugee families, IOCC focuses particularly on women-led households, families with children under 5 years, and families with disability or chronic diseases. Za'atari and Azraq refugee camps are also used to distribute head louse medicine for 10,000 children. The project is implemented with the help of the Federal Foreign Office.

With your support we get the energy to change the situation. Please donate so that we can act. Thank you so much!

Yours

Michael Tuerk

Rezan, works for ‘Support to Life’, a strategic partner organization of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey.

My colleague Maria del Mar Marais,  Project Assistant for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) Regional Office West and Central Asia, interviewed him about the cash assistance though E-voucher project.

Raised in Damascus with his family originally from Urfa (Turkey), after spending some time abroad Rezan returned to Syria in 2011 to join the peaceful uprising against the Syrian regime that swept across the country calling for achieving justice, equality and freedom for all. Like many fellow protesters, Rezan was imprisoned, tortured and forced to leave Syria. More than four years on, the situation has become one of the most brutal armed conflicts that has left over 470,000 deaths, according to the Syrian Centre for Policy Research (SCPR), half of whom are believed to be civilians, and displaced around 11 million people, 2.7 million of who are registered and seeking refuge in Turkey. The Support to Life with E-voucher Program: a cash assistance and protection program funded by ECHO and supported by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, is currently being implemented in South east Turkey and Istanbul and will be ongoing until the end of 2016.

Go here to read the whole interview and to find out with effect generated your support.

Please keep of going and support us with your donation. Thank's a lot.

Links:

• Blog Entry E-Vouchers

Syria is, before Colombia, the country with the highest number of internally displaced persons worldwide. 7.6 million Syrians have so far fled the violent clashes within the country. The martial fractions are fighting with heavy weapons against each other. It seems, that a peace process between the government and opposition groups is still not in sight.

The situation in the country

The Syrian war is now in it's fifth year. It is one of the most violent conflicts and the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time: It is estimated that more than 13 million people in the country are dependent on humanitarian aid, including half of children. 7.6 million displaced people are now in Syria, around four million have fled the country. The effects of the war are also devastating the health sector: Lack of medicines and sufficient staff, many hospitals were destroyed.

The relief effords

Our partner organization, the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)  supports people in the treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes or cancer. Together with pharmacies and medical facilities IOCC provides the affected people with  vital drugs. They would otherwise not have access or not the necessary funds for the procurement of medical supplies.

Construction of schools

Children are especially affected by the war. Mostly their homes are destroyed and they have no place to learn and play. In many areas all schools have been damaged. Together with the IOCC we support the reconstruction and operation of two schools in the city of Homs. In addition to the distribution of school materials, the transport to the schools is organized locally. For all people in Homs the reopening of the schools a few weeks ago was a great day. Surrounded by war and violence the children have now again a safe place, which allows them a certain degree of normality.

We also provide the people in Syria  with food, blankets, water filters, clothes and hygiene articles and we sustain them with psychosocial support.

Cost example for your help

A hygiene kit for 24 Euro includes soap, shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, dishwashing liquid, washing powder for a family.

You see that your support makes the difference. Pleas keep strong and help the syrian people also in the future. Thank's a lot!

An hour's drive from Beirut high in the mountains of the Beeka-Plateau exists a tent city. Thousands of Syrian refugees live in self-built tents. So also Isam, how came with his family. Water they get from a Fountain. Some families were able to prcure generators to produce some energy, but gasoline is expensive, like everything in Lebanon. At night, the tent city therefore remains dark.

Isam  fled with his wife and seven children 18 months ago from Syria. "It was useless, we could not continue to live there and I knew from the beginning, that the war-situation will take a long time." He settled in and improvises from morning till night. "Look, I've dug a small ditch for rainwater, but if it does not flow into our tent, it arrives at the neighbors."

Medical care is expensive

The tent city is only tolerated. Official camps are not established, so even a minimum level of organization does not exist. For the piece of land on which his tent is is build, Isam pays $ 600 a year. His wife is now working as a Cleaner and earns 100 dollars a month. So the family has at least a small income, but there is not enough back and forth. After a long lasting Diarrhea Issams youngest daughter suffers from malnutrition. A doctor visit costs at least 50 dollars in Lebanon. For the treatment of the daughter, the family relies on the commitment of humanitarian organizations.

DKH provides emergency assistance

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe supports families in tentcity with food and distributes stoves, blankets and clothing, so that the families can survive the coming winter - Because it's getting cold in the Bekaa-Plateau between the two mountain ranges, which gave the country its name.

We are so happy that you supported our cause so generous. With this amount we could already help 150 Syrian families. But it's so much more to do. That's why we rewuest you to open your heart futher so that we can helf even more. Thank's a lot.