NRC in Syria

NRC's operation

NRC meets the needs of people affected by conflict and displacement in Syria. Amidst ongoing conflict, further socioeconomic and environmental deterioration, climate change and most recently the earthquake, we provide emergency, transitional, early recovery and resilience programmes.

We lead advocacy to promote unimpeded and sustained access to assistance for people across Syria. NRC calls for increased humanitarian funding, longer term resilience programmes and early recovery support to alleviate the hardships of the Syrian people. NRC supports long-lasting durable solutions for displaced Syrians.

Education

Our teams ensure that educational opportunities for learning and skills building, for children and youth, are prioritised even in the most difficult circumstances. We work alongside communities to:

• create opportunities for children to resume and continue their education through non-formal educational opportunities that support transition into formal education
• support the retention of students at risk of dropout
• provide quality non-formal educational opportunities where schools are not accessible
• support displaced children with emergency education, recreation and psychosocial activities
• support the capacity building and professional development of teachers through the NRC Better Learning Programme and other interventions
• create welcoming schools through rehabilitation of learning spaces and WASH facilities, distribute learning materials and implement children-led activities
• provide skills training, mentorship, job placement and business start-up assistance for Syrian youth

Livelihoods and food security

NRC’s livelihood and food security (LFS) programmes are contributing to building the economic resilience of the Syrian people through various interventions that support access to sustainable livelihood opportunities. NRC LFS key interventions include:

• providing emergency cash for families to cover immediate basic needs including food and basic non-food needs
• supporting individuals with skill development to access labour markets for their income and employment
• providing support to individuals for start-ups through financial, training and technical support
• financial support provided to SMEs to create jobs for youths through the scale-up of their businesses
• job placement of unemployed youths and adults in the private sector
• supporting agriculture and the food sector through rehabilitation of irrigation systems, and the provision of inputs to small scale farmers

Shelter and settlements

We support the most vulnerable, including those who are displaced and those who stayed behind. We:

• deliver emergency assistance such as tents, blankets, and basic essential household items
• provide non-food items (NFIs) like winter clothing
• rehabilitate damaged homes and community infrastructure
• provide dignified and safe transitional shelter for people living in displacement

Water, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH)

Our WASH teams work with vulnerable conflict-, earthquake-, water shortage- and displacement-affected populations to ensure their basic needs are met, and that they can enjoy their rights and benefit from pathways to durable solutions. To this end we help improve access to safe and sufficient water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and services by:

• providing emergency/temporary solutions including water trucking and distribution of household water storage tanks
• rehabilitating damaged and sub-standard water infrastructures including boreholes and water supply networks
• installing necessary solar power systems to ensure continuous, economic, and environmentally friendly functioning of rehabilitated water systems
• rehabilitating damaged and sub-standard sanitation infrastructures including sewage networks and supporting municipality solid waste management through distribution of community level waste bins and tractors
• distributing hygiene kits, which include soap, washing powder and sanitary items
• encouraging hygiene promotion and community cleaning efforts

Capacity building

Our Capacity Building teams are providing support to Syrians to rebuild their lives through facilitation of their access to available services and sustainable livelihoods. The NRC teams are also providing expertise intervention on effective and efficient problem solving. Our teams are:

• providing communities, local actors and NRC’s partners with training and awareness sessions on documents and procedures to access services such as education, livelihoods, housing and property, employment, civil documents and events registrations such as births and marriages
• providing communities, local actors and NRC’s partners with trainings on effective and proficient problem solving