The UK charity Christian Aid warns that two million people still need help in the border region after last February’s devastating earthquake when 58,000 people died.
The 6.4 magnitude earthquake on February 6th and the aftershocks that followed flattened buildings, schools, and hospitals.
In northwest Syria, 4.1 million people need assistance out of a population of 4.5 million. There are almost three million internally displaced people (IDPs). It is a crisis on top of many crises that Syrians have endured since the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
Last month’s severe flooding and winter conditions have made the situation even worse. A violent storm destroyed more than 1,000 tents and damaged 2,300 others in the countryside around Idlib and Aleppo. Sewage mingling with floodwater poses a significant risk of disease and a serious environmental threat to wells and crops.
Alaa Assani, Emergency Response Programme Manager at Christian Aid, said: “This disaster hasn’t gone away. As well as recent flooding, bombing and shelling of civilians by Syrian and Russian forces continue near the Turkish border.”
Christian Aid supporters raised £3.45m and the charity also received over £6m from the UK’s Disaster Emergencies Committee (DEC) appeal. Thanks to this public generosity, the charity’s local partners have helped almost 105,500 people. They plan to reach around 289,500 more people by the time the projects are completed next year.
ENDS
Note to Editors
Christian Aid continues responding to the complex context of the Syrian conflict. The charity’s Syrian partners are providing mid and longer-term recovery and community resilience by:
- re-establishing peace education for children through summer schools
- funding teachers
- legal awareness for displaced affected women and women’s economic empowerment
- rehabilitating schools
- road infrastructure programmes
- cash for protection
- help to deal with winter conditions
- small grants for survivors and community-led responses (Sclr) for livelihood opportunities
Picture caption: Christian Aid/Syria White Helmets
More photos available and spokesperson interviews on request.
