How We Help in Syria

ALEPPO

Our goal is to provide 5,000 displaced and vulnerable families – or approximately 25,000 children and adults - with food, water, medicines and hygiene supplies by the end of 2016.

Programmes for children and young people at the child friendly space (CFS) and interim care centre (ICC) in the Hamdaniya area of Aleppo were suspended in April 2016 for safety reasons and 24 children were transferred to Damascus. Emergency relief has been stepped up since a major escalation in fighting began in July 2016.

Here is what we are doing:

Food

• 2,400 displaced families – approximately 12,000 people – receive meals every day in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC)
• 1,100 food kits have been distributed, each one able to support a typical family with pasta, milk and other staples for about one month

Water

• 380 families – nearly 2,000 people - living near the SOS Children’s Villages warehouse in Aleppo receive drinking water every day
• Goal: Expand drinking water access to approximate 7,000 people using delivery trucks and storage tanks

Medical, health education and hygiene

• One physician is on the job and there are plans to add two more doctors to assist children and families
• 300 children are receiving basic medical checks and medicines
• 890 women have participated in health awareness training
• Four children with critical health conditions have been transferred to medical facilities for specialised care, and one disabled child was provided with a wheelchair
• More than 1,110 hygiene kits have been distributed, each one providing the typical family about a month’s worth of soap, toothpaste, laundry powder and related supplies

Maternity and infant care

• More than 100 baby kits have been handed out to families in need, each containing a blanket, clothing and other supplies
• More than 250 containers of infant milk, 250 baby milk bottles and at least 360 packets of nappies (each containing 25 diapers) have been distributed

Education

• Goal: Providing temporary classes for at least 600 children, ages 5-12, who are displaced or whose schools are closed
• Distribution of winter clothing to begin in October

DAMASCUS

SOS Children’s Villages in Syria continues to provide a safe home, care for children and support for vulnerable families as it has done for more than 30 years. In April, 24 children in the care of SOS Syria were relocated from Aleppo to Damascus when the interim care centre and children friendly space were closed for safety reasons.

We care for vulnerable children through these programmes:

• SOS Children’s Village Qodsaya: 146 children
• Youth facilities (Qodsaya for females, Sahnaya for males): 46 young people
• Family strengthening programme: 341 families
• Interim care centres (ICCs) at Sabourah and Qura Al Assad (rural Damascus):  243 children
• An assessment is now under way to determine the location of two new child friendly spaces (CFSs) for vulnerable and displaced children.