Syria crisis
As the crisis nears its 4th anniversary in March, more than half the Syrian population is in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict and millions of people have been displaced internally or fled across the border as refugees. The crisis is however getting less global interest as it entered a chronic phase, and we’re doing our best to put it back onto the agenda of decision-makers to ensure there won’t be a fifth anniversary - more communications on this soon. We continue to deliver lifesaving assistance to crisis-affected people in the region, and have reached nearly half a million refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, and at least one million people inside Syria during 2014.
In Syria we continue to work in Damascus city and four other areas near the capital, to keep clean water flowing for hundreds of thousands of people. In Aleppo we are helping the local authorities keep 5 generators going at a plant which supplies about 3 million people. To date our work has been fully focused on large-scale water infrastructure projects, but recent negotiations with the Ministry of Social Affairs could mean we broaden out into public health promotion, which will mean being able to get out and talk to communities.
In Jordan in the Za’atari camp we are about to begin a program of connecting individual households to the water network which will give the entire population of the camp (about 85,000 people) their own connection. Designs are being finalized during February, and in April work will begin on what could be the only household level water network ever built in a refugee camp. If you want to have an idea of Oxfam’s work and what life is like in this huge camp-city have a look at this picture-blog from Za’atari. (Photo1: Za'atari refugee camp from atop one of Oxfam's water tanks, Oxfam February 2015. Photo 2: Oxfam 95 cubic meters of water can support a water system,
Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan. Oxfam. February 2015).
