As Syria emerges from a decade of war, aid is shifting to smaller projects to help families plant seeds, breed sheep and find ways of making a living while the shattered economy rebuilds, the head of the Red Cross network said on Friday (June 18).
Jagan Chapagain, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that traditional humanitarian work of providing food and medical items continued in many areas.
But it now supports scaleable projects, with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), to help people get back on their feet, he said after visiting Homs and Douma - former rebel strongholds reclaimed by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
"The purpose of my visit was to see whether the time is right to start maybe changing the focus of the program in Syria," he said in an interview at its Geneva headquarters.
"We want to shift the emphasis from purely humanitarian - although humanitarian work will still be needed - but we want to start transitioning towards the livelihood support," he said.
Hundreds of thousands have died in the conflict that has driven 11 million people - about half the population - from their homes. Assad's biggest challenge, now that he has regained control of around 70% of the country, is a decimated economy.
In Deir Baalbah, a village in Homs, SARC and the Federation have provided seeds, sheep and life-changing equipment to 15 farming families, some 100 people, Chapagain said.
Western donors have voiced reluctance to fund reconstruction under Assad - who won a fourth term last month in an election the West say was marked by fraud.
In Douma - where Assad cast his ballot - destruction is massive, Chapagain said. "I went to see the hospital, there is hardly anything left except very small pillars of what used to be the gate of the hospital," he said.
Local residents are building a 40-bed hospital and seeking donations of medical equipment including scanners rather than cash, he said.
REUTERS
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