QFFD, QRCS ink pact to aid Syrian refugees

The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to secure adequate shelter for internally displaced people (IDPs) from Homs to Idlib and Aleppo, in northern Syria.
The agreement was signed by QFFD’s strategic planning executive director Ali bin Abdullah al-Dabbagh and QRCS secretary-general Ali Hassan al-Hammadi.
“This grant from QFFD will help provide shelter for the Syrians displaced from Homs to Idlib and Aleppo, in a difficult journey. Many of them had suffered a long siege and lack of all sorts of supplies, so they had to leave,” al-Dabbagh said. He noted that such initiative forms part of Qatar’s strategy to mitigate people’s suffering and falls under the humanitarian response plan adopted by QFFD for 2017.
Under the three-month MoU, QRCS will build and rehabilitate 310 housing units, each measuring 100 sq m. These houses will accommodate 620 families (3,100 people), including 150 persons with disability. In addition, transportation will also be provided for the beneficiaries free of charge.
Al-Dabbagh added that several agreements have been signed this year, including relief interventions in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
QFFD appreciates the strong relations with QRCS and bilateral co-operation for the relief of the Syrian people, according to the QFFD senior official. Al-Hammadi thanked QFFD for its “fruitful co-operation to help the homeless Syrians, who were forced out of their home towns.”
“It is indispensable for them to find somewhere to live other than substandard IDP shelters, particularly now that winter is approaching,” he said.
Al-Hammadi commended the strategic partnership with QFFD, which reflects the approach of Qatari leaders towards helping the vulnerable and distressed, especially in Arab countries such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan.
“At the centre of this is QRCS, thanks to its internationally recognised capacity and as an auxiliary to the State of Qatar in its local and international humanitarian policy,” he noted.