QRC and QC jointly funding Syrian bakeries programme

The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) and Qatar Charity (QC) have jointly funded and implemented a project to support bakeries in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, and their countryside.The project, one of the largest for the benefit of the Syrian people, is valued at more than QR4.5 mn and is expected to benefit more than 6,000 families a day, by providing them with bread.The QRC provided QR3.15mn and QC provided QR1.1mn. The project will be supervised by the QRC.The bakery support project will provide 160,000 litres of diesel per month, enabling the day-to-day running of the bakeries.Some 40,000 litres of diesel will be delivered every two weeks and transported to the bakeries in pre-arranged quantities by special relief teams.“This project has been implemented to provide fuel for bakeries in order to halt the rise in the price of bread, which is an important issue for the Syrian people,” said QC’s executive director of international development, Mohammed bin Ali al-Ghamdi.Al-Ghamdi praised the partnership and co-operation between QC and the QRC, particularly in relation to the assistance of the Syrian people, helping to ease their suffering which is being exacerbated by increasing numbers of displaced people and refugees.“To help ease the suffering that the Syrian people are experiencing today is a human, moral and fraternal duty,” said QRC public affairs adviser Adel Ali al-Baker.Al-Baker added that the projects being implemented on the ground meet the essential needs of the refugees and displaced people by providing hospitals, shelter and food.He also praised the co-operation with QC and stressed that the QRC will continue to offer a helping hand to the Syrians in all necessary areas, particularly food, medicine and shelter.The QRC will monitor the project in order to ensure its successful operation, maximum output and number of beneficiaries, with the Syrian Red Crescent team regularly distributing bread to the displaced and preparing progress reports.The QRC will also carry out field trips to ensure the arrival of the diesel to the bakeries and that the furnaces operate according to their capacity.The project has contributed to reducing the price of bread from 20 Syrian pounds to 15, by providing diesel at S£50 per litre, significantly lower than the local market price.The project is expected to have a significant effect on the displaced people in the target areas, by making bread available at the usual price, and ensuring a quantity that will cover their basic needs.“We used to buy the barrels at S£40,000 and S£38,000 before the support from the Red Crescent and Qatar Charity. We have committed to selling bread at S£100 per 5kg, which is possible after they secured the diesel price at S£12,000 per barrel,” said Abu Ahmed, a local furnace owner and beneficiary of the project.The bakery project is part of a partnership agreement between QC and the QRC, aiming to carry out a number of important projects within Syria, including a relief programme for those stranded on the Syrian-Turkish border, providing safe shelter and essential services at a cost of QR7.2mn.The two organisations have also brought around 2,000 tents in Bab Al Salamah, Bab Al Hawa and Jarablus crossings. This programme will finish at the end of next month after the establishment of 19,000 tents.A medical relief support programme aiming to provide health services for around 7,000 residents of the Syrian provinces of Lattakia and Idlib, at a cost of QR1.826mn (QR 1.4mn from QC and QR366,000 from the QRC), is expected to be completed this month.