Disaster Response Syrian Arab Republic Project #21852

Syrian Refugee Crisis

by World Vision

Project Report | May 16, 2017
Syrian Refugee Crisis - World Vision's 2016 Report

By Bernadette Martin | Project Manager

In 2016, World Vision’s continued response to the protracted crisis in and around Syria contributed to the well-being of almost 2.3 million people. This included Syrians and Iraqis displaced in their own nations, and the families and communities who host them. Just over one million were children.

World Vision’s Syria One Response is a three-year plan (2015–17) for working across multiple contexts affected by the Syria crisis. The landscape for relief and recovery programming is different in each country, requiring dedicated project assessment and management to fit the local context. At the same time, World Vision’s central team provides technical advice and coordination support to connect programmes cross-border and to monitor and report the international complexities of the emergency as it deepens.

Supported by the World Vision Regional Office for the Middle East and Eastern Europe, World Vision’s Syria One Response worked through 23 international donors and more than 200 local partners to meet diverse and challenging needs of families caught up in the crisis.

EDUCATION AND CHILD PROTECTION

In 2016, education and child protection initiatives reached 165,165 people, including 94,788 children. Children’s needs in the face of this emergency are immense. World Vision’s child-focused programme recognises that not only physical needs must be met but also needs for psycho-social support self-esteem, protection from abuse or neglect, and healthy mental development. Learning for children of all ages is a priority, helping them to interact safely with teachers and other children, to assimilate without fear into their new communities, and to develop basic academic knowledge as a pathway to mainstream schooling. World Vision also supports child rights and protection work, housed in the community through teachers and willing volunteers who strengthen ‘safety net’ monitoring of children and young people at risk.

FOOD AND CASH PROGRAMMES

In 2016, food and cash programming reached 750,365 people, including 394,380 children. Approaches to household economic assistance in emergencies are rapidly evolving, based on strong evidence that the best and most satisfying way for families to re-establish themselves is with cash distribution. World Vision has made cash assistance available in a variety of ways: unconditional food purchase vouchers or cash conditional to school attendance.

With it comes stringent accountability, including monitoring of shops and markets to ensure shop owners are not inflating prices, as well as interagency coordination to show consistency in targeting and reaching the most vulnerable. Effects of the 2015 reduction of World Food Programme voucher support to Lebanon and Jordan continues to be felt. Though many families say the amount is not sufficient for monthly needs, they remain grateful for the essential relief that is still available.

In October 2016 the World Food Programme confirmed it would partly restore its household voucher value, news welcomed by World Vision and others working in partnership with the UN agency. In 2016, World Vision also worked with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), Swedish Pentecostal Churches (PMU) and the UK’s
Humanitarian Relief Fund on cash distribution; with Aktion Deutschland Hilft on school snacks; and with the Taiwanese government for ongoing rice distribution in Jordan.

WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROJECTS

In 2016, water, sanitation, and hygiene projects reached 1,752,584 people, including 816,922 children. As populations grow, towns and camps struggle to provide clean water and sanitation for their residents. World Vision’s international WASH experts bring skills and experience to manage large-scale infrastructure projects, including drainage in camps, sewage pipeline and plumbing for latrines, clinic construction, and drilling boreholes.

All WASH programmes also include household hygiene elements, helping families to understand the importance of good hygiene to their health as well as ensuring availability of water storage, soap, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products and other basic dignity supplies. Even in areas of high population movement, World Vision works with local stakeholders to ensure that decisions are community led and to fill the gaps identified by the people in greatest need. Some needs, such as trucking in drinking water, are ongoing, but others, such as drilling boreholes and equipping mobile clinics, have the potential to become community-owned resources in the future.

HEALTH PROGRAMMES

In 2016, health programmes reached 60,724 people, including 26,871 children. One of the most concerning aspects of the conflict in Syria is military targeting of hospitals. As a result, Syria and Iraq have lost many vital services and qualified staff. Until facilities and staff can be restored, the outlook for family health is bleak. Basic clinic services are urgently required to address cases of malnourishment, injury and recent disabilities in children. Pregnant women and mothers with young children are going without basic maternal and child services; children of all ages are vulnerable to common illnesses and undernutrition.

Rebuilding systems is a long-term proposition. In 2016, World Vision worked with local governments in KRI and Northern Syria to understand and fill gaps, particularly in the rehabilitation of hospitals and provision of antenatal and early childhood facilities.

ACCOUNTABILITY

World Vision is a member of the Core Humanitarian Standards Alliance with accountability for programme quality guided by:
The SPHERE Humanitarian Standards
Commitments on Accountability to Affected Populations
The Accountability to Affected Populations Operational Framework
The Joint Standards Initiative
The Global Alliance for Urban Crises Charter.

In line with its commitment to the above standards and charters, World Vision partners with communities to plan and monitor all projects from relief distribution through to community-based protection. Pivotal to this, World Vision’s beneficiary-feedback systems include:
post-implementation monitoring, with specific questions on satisfaction with programmes
transparent feedback and complaint mechanisms, with accountability to act on results
participatory research on community needs and priorities
two-way communication, including communication on complaints and feedback and how they have been resolved.

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Feb 15, 2017
Education is the new getaway for Syrian children

By Armenuhi Sahakyan | Communications Officer World Vision Armenia

Instead of going to school Kheir, five, was gathering plastic and nylon from the streets and selling them.

School, for Kheir and Mhamad, had a different meaning. For these two boys, school was a getaway; somewhere they can enjoy their childhood and escape the unfairness of the world. When kids their age were crying to skip school, these two Syrian refugee children were begging their mothers to let them attend the classes.

Instead of going to school Kheir, 5, was gathering plastic and nylon on the streets and selling them. Mhamad, 6, was collecting potatoes from the field for hours every day.

“He’s the only one in the family who stands the chance of having a good future. All our hopes are pinned on Kheir”, said his mother Souraya, 37.

Kheir’s father remarried and had children from his second wife. He no longer supported his children from his first marriage, especially after both families fled to Lebanon from Aleppo in 2011. None of Kheir’s eight older siblings had the chance of going to school, neither in Syria nor in Lebanon.

Souraya heard about World Vision’s “Early Children Education” programme funded by World Vision Hong Kong, World Vision Germany, World Vision US and the Swedish Pentecostal Mission’s Relief and Development Agency (PMU). The programme is targeting children from three to six years and is based on activities that develop children’s skills through a curriculum that includes: learning the alphabet, sounds, colours, songs, numbers and other fun, yet academic activities.

The classes take place in seven different informal settlements in the Bekaa area. Souraya registered Kheir as his age was suitable. His older brothers had to continue gathering plastic from the areas surrounding the settlement and sell them, so that the family could survive.

They often asked Kheir for his help in certain neighbourhoods. “He begs me to go to school instead of work, just because he likes it more” declared Souraya.

“I make US$7 on most days. I use it to buy bread and water for my family, but at school, I eat a lot more than at home”, Kheir admitted.

“It isn’t just about food”, Souraya interrupted, “Kheir stopped being violent with other children. He cares more about his personal hygiene and nothing makes him happier than getting good feedback from his teachers.” The best moment for him was receiving new colouring books and pencils. His shining eyes were a mirror of his eagerness to gain knowledge.

“The school is like a sanctuary to him and I encourage that” said Souraya. Kheir asked to assist his brothers at work only after school as he is very keen on not missing his morning classes and keeping up with his classmates.

Mhamad’s situation is slightly different. His work requires waking up by dawn and heading early to the grasslands to collect potatoes, which also means skipping school on some days. Even though there was afternoon schooling, he generally came home exhausted and suffered of a back pain.

Mhamad’s mother Zahiya, 40, believes that the family has no choice but for Mhamad to be helping out his two older brothers.

In a family of three boys and three girls, the boys felt responsible of maintaining a financial income after their father suffered a stroke a year ago leaving him very ill and unable to work.

Although everything changed for the boys, school kept Mhamad from losing all his joy. “A series of events, from the brutality of the war to his father’s illness, traumatised Mhamad. “ Zahiya admitted, “However I truly believe that the games he plays at school and the songs he learns put an end to his nightmares. My son has so much peace in him now”.

Both Souraya and Zahiya appreciated the constant care of the World Vision staff at the education centre for Kheir and Mhamad. “They visit our tent whenever Mhamad skips school and emphasise on the importance of his daily attendance”, said Zahiya.

World Vision’s education programmes offer an academic “home” over a period of four months for 748 Syrian refugee children. Kheir and Mohamad are not the only ones affected by child labour. 20 of their 165 schoolmates at the centre are forced to work, beg on the streets or even steal. Nevertheless, with education, these children now stand the chance of experiencing a peaceful childhood and a promising future.

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Nov 23, 2016
Homeless Iraqis fleeing Mosul

By Kayla Robertson and Max Greenstein | Communications Officers

Sabri with her children

World Vision's Syrian Refugee Response is active in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Serbia, Syria and Turkey.

Each day a steady stream of families arrive at Debaga camp in Northern Iraq, where they pick up the pieces and start again.

Debaga, northern Iraq – The school ground is now a shambles, its entrance swamped with people sitting on mattresses, selling food, kicking the dust. It lies on the main road of Debaga, a swollen camp that’s home to more than 30,000 Iraqis, including the new arrivals fleeing Mosul. It’s full to the brim.

"The security here is good - there’s less bombing," says Sabri*, 20, with a wry smile. The mother of four was made homeless two years ago when ISIL captured her hometown in Salahuddin, along with large swathes of the country’s north. Her family fled further north looking for safety - her husband Hamaad*, daughters Ajan* and Raqwa* and sons Mohammed* and baby Aman*. They found themselves in Hawija, only to be surrounded by ISIL again.

"Our lives have been very difficult," Sabri explains. "But the biggest difficulty has been for my children. Under ISIL they were not allowed to play with each other. They weren’t allowed outside. They couldn’t go to school. At least they’re so young that they didn’t understand what was happening - the older boys in the village who were 12 years old were being recruited by ISIL as soldiers."

She pauses to blow up a balloon for Aman, now 20 months old. In his short life, he has only known war.

Iraq is reeling from the continued onslaught in Mosul, with more people turning up at camps like Debaga by the day. More than 50,000 people have fled since 17October when the operation to re-take Mosul began. Worst still is that nearly half of these are children – a generation who have been denied a childhood.

This fact is not lost on Sabri.

"All I want is for us to be able to create a new life, where we can earn money to send the kids to school," she says.

Salahuddin was re-taken from ISIL nearly a year ago. Yet that offers no comfort to families from the area. According to Sabri, there are still no services, no electricity and no running water. Their family home was demolished during the conflict. If they wanted to return, they’d have to pay rent - money they do not have.

"Our town has been liberated only to become empty. Now we’re left trying to create new lives in tents," she says.

As the militant group is slowly pushed out of Mosul and its surrounding areas, districts like Salahuddin are a reminder of the bleak challenges ahead; a warning that rebuilding a community after conflict does not simply happen when the fighting ends.

For families who have fled war in Iraq, they have a long journey ahead of them to regain a sense of normality.

"My hope is that my children do not have to face this again," Sabri says while looking at Aman. "That is my hope for their future."

*Names have been changed to protect identities

Without tents, many sleep outside on mattresses

Children in Debaga camp

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