The dilapidated health situation in the northern Syrian camps is complicated further in light of the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, a new major project was launched based on enhancing the issue of personal hygiene, with the aim of alleviating the burdens of the displaced.

It focuses on the areas of Al-Dana, Kafr Lusin, Babska, Sarmada, Batbo, Hazano, Kafr Daryan Termanin and Burj Al-Nimra). Specifically, the following camps:

Apamia, Al Baraka, Saed, Martyrs of the South, Al Eis, Al Burj, Al Yamamah, Al Saleem, Jabal Al Hoss, Ajyal, The Old White, The New White Al-Najma, Wadi Al-Ain, Gathering of Sahara, Al-Musa, Sher Maghar, Al-Maqla, Al-Saqia, Al-Youssef and We Are Together.

The services WATAN plans to carry out include:

• Pulling technical inequities.
• Supplying sterilized water through tanks.
• Removal of solid waste.
• Distribution of personal hygiene booster baskets.
• Periodic health awareness campaigns.
• Distribution of garbage containers.
• Building blocks of regular bathrooms for people with special needs.
• Contracting workers to clean the bathroom blocks on a daily basis.
• Paving roads
• Implementation of sewage lines, with fermentation pits; To convert water into irrigation water.

 

It is worth noting that the project was launched at the beginning of this year and continues to provide the following daily services of water supply, technical sewage removal, solid waste removal, and awareness campaigns. Distributing garbage containers, distributing water tanks, and finishing the distribution of hygiene baskets in the camps was completed.

By the end of October, 48,142 individuals (8,376 families) were reached by the project with the continuation of providing all services to the targeted camps until the end of 2021. The project is expected to:

• increase hygiene in camps and eliminate the flow of water outside of domestic use to the streets, which leads to the formation of swamps which causes diseases.
• Take advantage of the water coming out of the coagulation pit to irrigate the neighbouring agricultural lands.
• Reducing the prevalence of diseases in the camps.

 

These services are expected to contribute to:

• Establishing a sewage network that can be used in the future.
• Supporting families with limited income, widows, and people with special needs.
• Raising awareness of beneficiaries of the need to enhance personal hygiene.
• Reducing the pressures experienced by the displaced and camp residents.
• Supporting the camps’ infrastructure through maintenance, restoration, and construction of bathroom blocks – establishing a sewage system – and improving roads by paving them.
• Enhancing overall hygiene by providing sterilized water, removing waste, and reducing the spread of diseases and epidemics.