Give Support to 800 Syrian Refugee Families

Dear Supporters,

at this place iwant to give you an overwiev of the situation in Sria and our efforts to help the refugees in the region.

The wave of violence has no end in Syria and Iraq. The Syrian Civil War has become even more complex and violent in the sixth year - a humanitarian disaster for the entire region. Millions of people are on the run.

In the spring of 2012 - about a year after the beginning of the war in Syria - the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe started its aid program for the people who were displaced within the country because of the heavy fighting or sought protection in the neighboring countries. In 2014, relief efforts were extended to the north of Iraq to support the people who are fleeing within their own country.

We help especially refugee families who live outside the official camps, and support communities that receive displaced persons. That is about 85 percent.

Together with our local partners, we provide people in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey with relief supplies to meet their basic needs. In order to strengthen the Syrian and Iraqi refugee families as well as to cope with the challenges of everyday life on their own, we organize self-help groups and educational offers together with our partners and offer playful activities for children and young people.

The situation in Jordania

657,000 Syrian refugees are registered in Jordania. More than half of them are children under 18 years of age. About 100,000 Syrians live in the two major Jordanian refugee camps, Za'atari and Azraq, the largest refugee camps in the Middle East.

Most of the refugees also live in camps not in Jordania, but in villages near the border or larger cities. They are much more difficult to reach for relief organizations. The adequate supply with food or medical services is not ensured. In some villages and communities, the number of Syrian refugees now exceeds the number of inhabitants. A large proportion of the refugees are struggling with rising debts and dependency of humanitarian aid. However, the refugees who are living unregistered outside the camps do not have an official demand of humanitarian aid. They are in risk to be sent back to Syria. Our goal is to help the most needy of them and also the host communities.

Together with our partner IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities), we supplied last winter more than 2,200 needy Syrian and Jordanian families with winter clothes and blankets. Currently, 1,000 families are supported with rental allowances, so that they do not lose their shelter. In addition, 1,200 families are supplied with food and hygiene vouchers. In the selection of Syrian refugee families, IOCC focuses particularly on women-led households, families with children under 5 years, and families with disability or chronic diseases. Za'atari and Azraq refugee camps are also used to distribute head louse medicine for 10,000 children. The project is implemented with the help of the Federal Foreign Office.

With your support we get the energy to change the situation. Please donate so that we can act. Thank you so much!

Yours

Michael Tuerk