DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has completed supervision of the eighth polio vaccination campaign in Syria, co-implemented with Unicef, World Health Organisation (WHO) and other local and global humanitarian organisations.
For over 10 days, the campaign continued in seven governorates, four of which — Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib and Hama and their countryside parts — were supervised by QRC.
QRC’s mission in Gaziantep, Turkey, held a training course for 114 supervisor at its premises and in Syria to improve their supervisory, planning, follow-up and assessment skills. Then, they were aligned across the four governorates to accompany vaccinators. According to initial results, vaccinated children totalled 768,254, 491,340 of whom in Aleppo, 241,427 (Idlib), 6,614 (Latakia) and 28,873 in Hama.
Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi, Secretary-General, QRC, said: “We have completed the campaign as part of our attempts to improve the living conditions of our Syrian brothers in and outside of Syria, cater for their basic needs and protect the next generation against physical impairment.
“A few oral vaccine drops can create a productive citizen who serves his homeland.”
He expressed happiness over cooperation with Unicef over the past years, which culminated in a five-year memorandum of understanding to serve as a general framework for their relations, through exchange of experiences, cooperation in projects, and other joint actions.
QRC is to supervise the ninth campaign, to be launched early next month, under the $10m polio vaccination project executed by Unicef and regional and global organisations, including QRC, to alleviate suffering of about 4.5 million Syrian children directly affected by the four-year crisis in their country.
Signed by Al Mohannadi and Dr Ibrahim Al Ziq, Gulf Area Representative, Unicef, the agreement covers humanitarian development, protection and response in favour of women and children, including but not limited to the lives, survival and development of young children; gender equality in basic education; HIV/Aids in children; protection against, prevention of, and response to all forms of violence, exploitation, and abuse; and promotion of applicable policy compliance and partnership building for the protection of children’s rights.
The Peninsula
