QC-OCHA deal to benefit 58,380 Syrians
QATAR Charity (QC) has signed a co-operation and partnership agreement with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Turkey to provide emergency water and sanitation services for squatter camps and health facilities in Idlib and Aleppo, in Syria. The agreement, to implement Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects at a cost of more than QR1 million, is expected to benefit 58,380 people. Under the agreement, the OCHA will fund the larger part of the project, while QC will fund the other part. QC will also implement, monitor, and periodically follow up the project over seven months through its office in Turkey, as well as, its field teams. The project includes nine different activities.
QATAR Charity QC has signed a cooperation and partnership pact with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA in Turkey, to provide emergency water and sanitation WASH services for squatter camps and health facilities in Idlib and Aleppo.
The agreement to implement WASH projects at a cost of more than QR1 million is expected to benefit some 58,380 people. Under the agreement, the OCHA will fund a large part of the project, while QC will fund the other part. QC will also be implementing, monitoring and periodically monitoring the project through its Turkish office and field teams over seven months.
The project, which is implemented in two parts, consists of nine different activities. The first part of the project is aimed at 21 squatter camps in Idlib and Aleppo providing safe drinking water, providing 25 IDP camps with 2,000-liter water tanks, and repairing 100 toilets and 60 water points. It also includes raising awareness of health in camps to reduce outbreaks of diseases and epidemics, in particular the coronavirus COVID-19 . These activities will continue for three months to benefit 13,380 people.
However, the second part of the project, which is carried out in eight IDP cam medical centers, includes the provision of water to the centers, the installation of water reservoirs, the repair of toilets and water points. It also involves raising awareness among health workers about how to deal with diseases and epidemics that may erupt in the camps. These activities will continue to benefit approximately 45,000 people for seven months.
Muhammad Wahi, director of the QC’s Regional Office in Turkey, said the project will play a vital role in alleviating the hardship of internally displaced persons, stressing the importance of cooperation and coordination between Qatar Charity and various UN agencies and international organizations on humanitarian issues in Turkey.
It also noted that these agreements reflect the eagerness of QC to respond to humanitarian needs in accordance with the priorities recommended by the relevant clusters.
Eng. Khaled Al Hussein, a Turkish water and sanitation officer, said that QC attached great importance to water projects as it rehabilitated 23 drinking water plants in northern Syria by providing the fuel and equipment needed to operate.
He added that QC is currently working on a separate project to supply 15,000 water tanks to IDP camps, to supply 18 fuel pumping stations for three months, and to distribute 5500 personal hygiene kits and 300 home water tanks with a capacity of 1,000 liters. He noted that QC would continue to supply fuel to three water stations in Azaz, Syria, for a period of 6 months.