8/10/2022
Qatar Charity (QC), with funding from OCHA’s Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF), has started implementing a project to support the self-reliance of crisis-affected population and improve socio-economic services in northern Syria. The project is expected to be completed in January 2023 for the benefit of nearly 3000 people.
The project is designed on a joint basis between the sectors of early recovery and livelihoods to increase the resilience of affected communities and early recovery through integrated activities in selected areas of northwestern Syria.
The project aims to respond to urgent humanitarian priorities and needs within the 2021 Needs and Response Strategy. It seeks to provide an integrated service to the targeted groups and communities through an integrated approach to intervention in the sectors of food security & livelihoods (FSL) and early recovery and livelihoods (ERL).
This project is designed to support the creation of job opportunities for individuals affected by the crisis and the expansion of small businesses through integration with value chain support in each of the targeted areas, which are Al-Dana in Idlib governorate, Afrin and Al-Rai in Aleppo governorate.
The project has many activities like rehabilitating two irrigation stations in Afrin with main and secondary canals along a length of 40 km to ensure access to irrigation services for about 2,000 hectares of agricultural lands. The activities also include providing job opportunities for nearly 50 workers in the beneficiary area, and establishing 3 medium-sized food processing workshops in Afrin, Al-Dana and Al-Raee, which will create job opportunities for 165 beneficiaries. Each workshop will be supported by a one-time cost of establishment and equipment, raw materials and with operational expenses for a period of 4 months.
The project also includes the distribution of agricultural inputs to 200 farmers in Al-Dana, Afrin and Al-Raee.
Among the activities of the project is also to support 114 small business owners to scale up their small businesses through small business grants, and to build their capacities in managing small businesses through 30 hours of training and 6 coaching guidance visits throughout the project. This activity targets the shops owners in the two markets that were newly established by Qatar Charity in Al-Raee (39 shops) and Al-Dana (50 shops), in addition to 25 beneficiaries from outside the market.
It is worth mentioning that Qatar Charity has implemented many food security projects within Syria, which include wheat and vegetable value support, in addition to providing small grants and rehabilitating silos and agricultural structures.