How many people are affected by the Syria crisis?
It is fair to say that everyone in Syria is affected by the crisis in one way or the other. Millions have left their homes and the numbers are increasing day by day. By the end of March, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) had registered more than two million people in need only in Aleppo, Damascus and rural Damascus. The large numbers of host families who initially provided the bulk of support to internally displaced people are themselves becoming displaced, or running out of resources.
What kind of assistance is needed now for people?
The priority need is safety. In terms of assistance, people have left their homes without anything else than the clothes they wear; they need everything. Families continue to live in fear and with the psychological consequences of being surrounded by violence. The children have not been spared. Whole neighborhoods have been destroyed; infrastructure, schools and houses. The health care system has stopped functioning in many parts of the country. Pharmaceutical companies have suspended production leading to shortages in medicine supplies.
There is an urgent need for food, health care, medicines, water, education and basic services in a large part of the Syrian population, as well as hygiene items, mattresses and blankets for the tens of thousands who continue leaving their homes seeking safety somewhere else. As long as the violence continues, the need of assistance is expected to continue rising and needs are also likely to deepen, especially among internally displaced persons and those trapped in cities surrounded by violence.
How many people has the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) assisted since the beginning of the crisis?
SARC continues, sometimes under life-threatening conditions, to provide urgent assistance to those affected by the unrest and in need of assistance. Currently, SARC is providing an average of 400,000 families per month with relief items and health services with support from international humanitarian organisations and local and international NGOs. SARC branches register people in need and provide assistance to the most vulnerable.
How is SARC supporting the people in need?
SARC support has primarily focused on relief and emergency and basic health. The provision of food and non-food relief items includes food parcels, basic hygiene items (such as soap, sanitary pads, tooth paste), mattresses, blankets, and basic kitchen items so that displaced families have basic means to survive and stay healthy.
Emergency first aid activities continue throughout the country with medical health points, mobile health units and ambulances in areas with limited access to health care including areas where people are trapped by the conflict. SARC has a network of clinics across the country and is providing medicine for chronic and acute diseases for hundreds of thousands in need.
How many staff and volunteers are working with SARC?
SARC has over 200 staff across the country and has mobilized over 3,000 volunteers who are responding to the humanitarian needs on a daily basis. SARC has at some point in time trained around 10,000 volunteers in disaster response, disaster risk reduction, first aid and other humanitarian topics. Many of these well trained volunteers have been employed by UN and other international agencies in Syria and abroad.
What are the main challenges facing SARC in providing assistance?
Lack of safe access. The situation is unpredictable and extremely volatile. The risks involving SARC volunteers are of grave concern.The magnitude of the disaster and the needs, which by far exceeds assistance available.
Who is funding SARC operations?
SARC aid work is funded by contributions from the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, UN-organisations and other international NGOs with funding from governments and other international donors. Red Cross Red Crescent is seeking funding for the ongoing humanitarian assistance to support food and non-food relief items, health care and safe drinking water as priorities.
Can SARC work everywhere? Some media reports suggest otherwise.
SARC is a community based organisation. SARC volunteers are working from branches and sub-branches across the country. They are part of the community who live in the respective area. They are providing lifesaving first aid services where health and medical services no longer function. SARC’s neutrality is key to deliver its humanitarian assistance to almost two million people monthly. SARC provides assistance to IDPs and across conflict lines. SARC volunteers are active in areas like Qaboun, Jobar, Douma, Telbiseh, Tel Kalakh, Al Bokamal and Menbej; to name a few.
SARC volunteers are working under extremely difficult circumstances even putting their own lives at risk. 17 volunteers have lost their lives to date while providing humanitarian assistance, latest on 3 March in Jobar, a suburb to Damascus. Unsubstantiated reports and misinformation are adding to the risks to which SARC volunteers are exposed.