Hundreds of thousands of families in northern Syria are suffering due to the deteriorating health situation in the camps – particularly with the spread of COVID-19. So need to spread awareness of personal hygiene during this times has become extremely important to alleviate some of the burdens of the displaced and so a large project with this aim has been launched. This work was done in the camps: Afamea, Al-Baraka, Shohada’ Al-Janoub, Al-Eis, Al-Burj, Al-Yamama, Al-Salim, Jabal Al-Hoss, Ajyal, Al-Abyadh Al-Qadeem, Al-Abyadh Al-Jadeed, Al-Najm, Wadi Al-Ain, Tajamo Al-Sahara, Al-Musa, Sher Maghar, Al-Maqla, Al-Saqia, Al-Youssef and Nahnu Maa’. These camps are all in the areas of: Al-Dana, Kafr Lusin, Babsaqa, Sarmada, Batbo, Hazano, Kafr Daryan Termanin, Burj Nemra.
These are the following services to be provided:
- Supplying sterilized water through tanks.
- Removal of solid waste.
- Cleaning of septic tanks.
- Distribution of personal hygiene packs.
- Regular health awareness campaigns.
- Distribution of garbage containers.
- Building blocks of bathrooms for people with special needs.
- Contracting workers to clean the bathroom blocks on a daily basis.
- Paving roads
- Implementation of sewage lines, with waste-water treatment so there’s a supply of water for irrigation purposes.
The project was launched at the beginning of this year, and by the end of August these are some of the most important milestones achieved:
- Continuing to provide the following daily services: a supply of water, septic tank sewage removal, solid waste removal and awareness campaigns
- Adding the camp ‘Nahnu Maa’ to those who receive the daily services.
- Distributing 591 garbage containers to the targeted camps
- Distributing 524 water tanks, with a capacity of over 1000 liters. These were set down on a concrete base, in order to help reach and maintain water points safely, and to ensure that the service reaches all potential beneficiaries.
- Distributing hygiene baskets 8050 families in selected camps.
The percentages of completion in the camps are as follows:
- Continuing the work of providing sanitation services in the following camps: Al-Maqlaa, Al-Harsh, Al-Baraka, Al-Abyad, Kafr Karmin, Shuhada Al-Janoub. This has been completed to a level of 95%.
- Work is underway to provide road covering services with gravel in the camps: Al-Maqla, Al-Harsh, Al-Abyad Kafr Karmin, Jabal Al-Hoss, Saed, Al-Baraka, Shuhada Al-Janoub, Al-Najma, Wadi Al-Ain, Sher Maghar, Al-Musa, Al-Eis, Al-Burj. This has been completed to a level of 95%.
- Work towards building bathroom blocks in all camps has started. The goal is to build 156 double public bathrooms for males and females, and 28 blocks for people with special needs. This has almost been completed to a level of 99%.
- Distributing toilet cleaning equipment to 72 workers across different camps.
Based on the latest update, the number of beneficiaries of these services, since the start of the project up until now, has reached 8343 families – approximately 47,990 individuals. Services are scheduled to continue being provided until the end of 2021.
So the following have been completed:
- Getting rid of the water outside leaking on the streets, which leads to the formation of swamps containing a lot of dirt and diseases.
- Providing irrigation water to the neighbouring agricultural lands from water coming out of the coagulation pit.
- Reducing the prevalence of diseases in the camps by removing the causes that lead to it and ensuring that sterilized water reaches all families, alleviating their financial burdens.
These services are expected to contribute to:
- Enhancing personal hygiene by providing sterilized water and removing waste.
- Supporting families with limited income, widows and people with special needs.
- Educating the beneficiaries about the need to improve personal hygiene through awareness campaigns.
- Reducing the pressures experienced by the people displaced living in the camps.
- Supporting the camps’ infrastructure through maintenance, restoration and construction of bathroom blocks, establishing a sewage system, and improving roads by paving them to ease the movement of and the beneficiaries and the service providers.
- Establishing a sewage network that can expand in the future to provide services to a larger number of beneficiaries.
Providing a safe, healthy, and stable environment