Red Cross to broaden Syria Humanitarian efforts beyond $100m programme
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to broaden its work in Syria considerably beyond its initial $100m programme, the organisation’s president revealed on January 6th, mentioning urgent needs in the water, power and health sectors.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this year, Syria requires $4.07b in aid. Currently, 33.1% of this has been funded, with $2.73b remaining, according to The New Arab and agencies.
The ICRC’s prospective expansion comes after new access to all regions of the country has taken form after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad’s regime last month.
ICRC President, Mirjana Spoljaric told Reuters: “Our programme originally for this year for Syria was $100 million, but we are likely to expand that significantly.”
Spoljaric told Reuters individual donor countries had already presented a rise in funding for Syria.
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ICRC was one of the few global organisations operating in the country under Assad, which worked on infrastructure projects including water and electricity systems.
Spoljaric also said: “We need to expand that work, we have a lot to do in the health sector.”
Spoljaric added: “There are facilities next to the Euphrates Lake that are specific to the protection requirement at the moment.”
The first stage of assessments to start renewing the country’s electricity systems are partially done but important financial investments and alterations to sanctions are now required, Spoljaric added.
“Certain spare parts need to be allowed to come in because that is also hampering the rehabilitation work at the moment. So there’s a political dimension to it,” she said.
On January 5th, the country’s new Islamist rulers said US sanctions are a hindrance to the country’s fast-track recovery and called on Washington to suspend them, when Syrian officials visited Qatar.
According to ActionAid, 77% of Palestinians lack essential relief items, as reported by the The New Arab on January 1st. But the Knesset is considering to reduce its humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip after Trump comes into office, as reported by The New Arab on January 4th.
The New Arab and agencies, Reuters
