The civil war in Syria have produced tragic statistics, with more than a quarter of a million dead and over 13.5 million forced to flee their homes from Syria. It is currently estimated that more than 17 million people are in need of humanitarian relief in the region, making this the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.
Together, the EU and the German Government are responding this situation by jointly providing support for projects that aim to mitigate the realities of the region. One of them is ‘Qudra - Resilience for Syrian Refugees, IDPs and Host Communities in Response to the Syrian and Iraqi Crises’, funded by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the 'Madad' Fund and the German Government. Qudra is an Arabic word meaning ‘strength, ‘ability’ or ‘resilience.’
Qudra programme works with refugees, displaced persons and host communities in four countries bordering Syria: Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Roughly 80-90% of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in these countries are living out-of-camp, and their circumstances and status vary considerably.
Qudra aims to build the resilience of host communities, refugees and displaced persons in five key areas:
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Improving school infrastructure and access to extracurricular activities (e.g. sports);
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Expanding and improving basic vocational skills;
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Strengthening social cohesion through community-based services;
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Strengthening the capacities of local administrations;
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Promoting dialogue and exchange of experience among the key stakeholders of the action.
In all these areas, the programme draws on the experience of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF), Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) and Ökumenikus Segélyszervezet (HIA) in order to develop and implement shared European solutions.
