Syria Relief

Humanitarian organization

Syria Relief

Syria Relief aid worker carrying an emergency foodpack, Beirut, August 2020

Founded| 2011
Type| International NGO
Focus| Emergency Relief, Health, Education, Orphans and Child Welfare
Headquarters| Manchester, United Kingdom

Area served

| Syria

Key people

| CEO: Othman Moqbel[1] Chair of Trustees: Ayman Jundi Head of Communications and Advocacy: Charles Lawley[2]
Revenue| £22.1 million (2018)[3]
Disbursements| £21.8 million
Employees| 1,700[4]
Website| www.syriarelief.org.uk

Syria Relief is the largest Syria-focused NGO in the United Kingdom. [5] Syria Relief stated that they "are dedicated to alleviating the suffering and supporting the future of Syrians who have been affected by the crisis, mainly inside Syria." Syria Relief was formed in 2011 at the start of the Syrian Civil War, since then they have reached millions of people, distributing "hundreds of millions" worth of aid.[6][7] The charity was initially set up as a short-term humanitarian aid project at the start of the conflict, however it has since grown in size.[8] The charity operates a total of 306 schools in Syria, more than any other NGO,[9][10] and 14 hospitals and healthcare centers.[1][11]

## Humanitarian programmes

[edit]

As well as distributing aid and monitoring displacement,[12] one of the main focuses of Syria Relief's work are health related projects within Syria. Syria Relief's trustees are mainly British doctors and the organisation provides medical help through training and paying the wages of doctors within Syria.[13] Syria Relief worked with Save The Children, doctors and researchers to produce the world's first manual into treating children injured by explosives, which Syria Relief began distributing to emergency units across northwest Syria in May 2019.[14][15][16] Syria Relief have also pushed for DfID to fund 3D printed prosthetic limbs for children in Syria who have become victims of the conflict.[17]

In October 2019, one of Syria Relief's Primary Healthcare Centres became the target of a shell attack, where 7 were injured, by over 5 shells. Vital equipment and medicines were destroyed in the attack. It was described as a "deliberate attack."[18][19] In February 2020, another of Syria Relief's healthcare centres was destroyed and a member of staff was killed in an air strike.[20]

Providing schooling for Syrian children is another key aspect of Syrian Relief's work, during the ongoing Idlib offensive, six of the 306 schools that Syria Relief run across the country were hit by airstrikes.[5][18][9][21]

As of November 2019 their humanitarian aid programmes includes:[9]

* Running 3 hospitals, 2 mobile clinics, 3 primary health centres, 7 family planning clinics and a prosthetic limbs centre, helping over 250,000 people each year.
* Running 159 schools, with organisations such as Save the Children and UNICEF, helping approximately 55,592 children.
* Providing vocational training, cash for work and small business support and rehabilitation of farming, oil production and water treatment, helping nearly 20,000 people.
* Providing clean water facilities for over 1.5 million people.

Outside of Syria, Syria Relief have provided emergency aid to the victims of the August 2020 Beirut explosion and those in lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic near their UK headquarters in Tameside.[22][23]

## Advocacy

[edit]

Syria Relief have made efforts to raise awareness of the crisis in Syria, keeping it on the media agenda. In September 2019, they released a report detailing the impact of the deliberate targeting of schools is having on Syrian children, highlighting a spike in illiteracy in areas where schools are hit by airstrikes.[7] In August 2019, they commissioned a YouGov poll which found that 20% of the UK said they did not know if the conflict was still ongoing and 3% believed it has stopped completely.[24][5] In January 2019, Syria Relief released figures detailing that approximately 75% of children in Idlib are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and 50% are suffering from incontinence.

## Supporters

[edit]

Surgeon David Nott has worked with Syria Relief since 2016, to treat patients in Syria and increase capacity of Syrian doctors.[25] In March 2018, 21 British Members Of Parliament from all parties signed an Early Day Motion specifically praising the work undertaken by Syria Relief, the signatories included Christine Jardine, Sir Peter Bottomley, Ronnie Campbell, Tim Farron and Jim Shannon.[26]

In 2021, Syria Relief released a report, authored by the organisation's Head Of Communications and Advocacy, Charles Lawley, into the prevalence of Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms amongst Syrian refugees and Internally Displaced People, which found that 75% of respondents may have PTSD. [2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Moqbel, Othman (31 March 2021). "Othman Moqbel: In ten years Syria Relief has gone from a tiny group of volunteers to become the largest Syria-focused UK charity". Civil Society.
2. ^ a b Ahmed, Kaamil (1 March 2021). "More than 75% of Syrian refugees may have PTSD, says charity". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
3. ^ "Data for financial year ending 31 December 2018, Syria Relief".
4. ^ "SYRIA RELIEF, EDM #1064".
5. ^ a b c Moqbel, Othman (17 August 2019). "More than 200 children have died in Idlib since April yet we are forgetting about the Syrian conflict". Independent.
6. ^ "Syria Relief". bond. August 2015.
7. ^ a b "No School To Go Back To: The Impact of Airstrikes on Syria's Schools". Syria Relief. 4 September 2019.
8. ^ Chamberlain, Zoe (19 March 2019). "'Billboard dad' Sunny Araf wants to take Brummies to Lebanon to help Syrian refugees". BirminghamLive.
9. ^ a b c "Syria Relief announce 107 new schools through partnership with Chemonics". Syria Relief. 15 November 2019.
10. ^ "Register". Retrieved 30 July 2023 - via Facebook.
11. ^ Ball, Lucy (22 March 2021). "Chapel-en-le-Frith humanitarian reflects on ten years of horrors in Syria after returning from aid mission". Buxton Advertiser.
12. ^ Evans, Gareth (28 September 2018). "Idlib hospitals at breaking point in last rebel stronghold". BBC.
13. ^ Vohra, Anchal (16 February 2019). "Syria: Civilians face familiar threats in rebel-held areas". Al Jazeera.
14. ^ Mills, Jen (16 May 2019). "Children's blast injuries handbook is 'shocking testimony to failure of adults'". Metro.
15. ^ Brogan, Caroline (16 May 2019). "First manual on child blast injuries launched by Imperial and Save the Children". Imperial College London.
16. ^ "UK doctors launch guide for Syrian medics battling to save children's lives". Israel Hayom. 16 May 2019.
17. ^ Iftikhar, Umair (24 September 2018). "Syria Relief Appeals for 3D Printed Prosthetics for Children". 3D Printing Industry.
18. ^ a b "Seven injured in Syria charity shell attack". BBC. 4 October 2019.
19. ^ Slater, Chris (5 October 2019). "Seven injured in Syria charity shell attack". Manchester Evening News.
20. ^ Spencer, Richard (21 February 2020). "Hospital caught in Idlib crossfire runs out of money and hope". The Times.
21. ^ "Syria: Cluster Munition Attack on School". Human Rights Watch. 22 January 2020.
22. ^ "Manchester aid workers helping people of Beirut following last week's explosion". ITV News. 11 August 2020.
23. ^ "Tameside Covid-19 response service provides vital aid to local community". In Your Area. 11 June 2020.
24. ^ Firth, Sara (21 August 2019). "I've spent years reporting from Syria. The world has tuned out, but hope still exists". The Guardian.
25. ^ Nott, David (24 February 2019). "David Nott: 'They told me my chances of leaving Aleppo alive were 50/50'". The Guardian.
26. ^ "SYRIA RELIEF EDM #1064". UK Parliament. 13 March 2018.

* Clements, Hannah (18 August 2020). "Manchester Based Charity Attending to Beirut Blast Victims". Manchester News. Retrieved 21 August 2020.