Doha: Qatar Red Crescent (QRC), in conjunction with United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), has completed two relief projects for Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan through the delivery of clean water to Dar Shukran and Arbat refugee camps, with a total budget of about $793,000.
QRC procured and installed 500 solar-powered water heaters in Dar Shukran camp to meet the everyday hot water needs of the camp’s 10,000 inhabitants, or 50 litres per family. The project also covered the camp’s school, clinic, and administrative units. Beneficiaries were also educated on optimised consumption of such vital resources.
In the Sulaymaniyah-based Arbat camp, a pipeline network was built to provide clean drinking water for 2,560 refugees, as well as a school, a clinic, and administrative units.
QRC first conducted a needs analysis and initiated the programme, which is the first to support refugees there
Lasting from December 2013 to this April, the project cost about $793,000 and 30 percent of it is paid by QRC and the remaining by Unicef.
The projects are part of an agreement to support Syrian refugees in the Kurdish region, a continuation of QRC’s humanitarian work in Syria’s neighbours — Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports in early March, the number of refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan reached about 227,000 since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.
Earlier this year, Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi, QRC’s Secretary-General, met Unicef representative to the Gulf states, Dr Ibrahim Al Ziq at QRC’s headquarters. They discussed a broader and multifaceted partnership to support humanitarian issues, especially those related to children in the health and education fields. Dr Al Ziq praised Qatar’s humanitarian support and efforts across the world, including the Arab region. He also praised Qatar’s humanitarian organisations for their relief and development work.
QRC and Unicef have had collaborative partnerships in several humanitarian areas, the latest of which was a children’s vaccination programme costing $10m, to face the deteriorating health conditions of 4.5m Syrian children directly affected by the persisting conflict in their country.
The Peninsula
