Doha: The State of Qatar continues its support for the Syrian people through a wide range of humanitarian and development projects carried out by its official and charitable institutions across various Syrian governorates. These efforts aim to strengthen the partnership between the two countries and respond to both urgent and long-term needs in vital sectors, amid the conditions that have followed years of crisis and the ongoing challenges facing reconstruction.
According to Qatar News Agency, since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, Qatar Charity (QC), Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS), and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) have been at the forefront of humanitarian action. They have swiftly provided emergency and long-term aid in close coordination with international and local humanitarian organizations, and official institutions. Their interventions span sectors such as health, shelter, education, food security, infrastructure, and economic empowerment projects.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Director of Qatar Charity's office in Turkiye and Syria, Karam Ali, highlighted that since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, QC has implemented over 4,800 projects, costing approximately QR 750 million. These projects have focused on health, shelter, food security, and education. Ali noted that the immediate response to the February earthquake amounted to around QR 70 million, providing emergency shelters such as tents and prefabricated homes, along with food baskets and other essential supplies.
Ali explained that Qatar Charity used various mechanisms, either directly or through partners in Turkiye and Syria, in line with UN Security Council resolutions on cross-border humanitarian operations. Northern Syria has been a primary focus of these efforts. Among QC's key achievements in the region is the establishment of "City of Hope", which houses 1,400 families and includes schools, health centers, a kindergarten, a market, and integrated service facilities. More than 2,000 homes have been built, either individually or as part of residential communities.
As part of its Ramadan campaign, Qatar Charity hosted the 27th Night last year to rebuild 1,500 homes, with work already underway on 600 of these homes in Syria's Al-Ghab Plain and Maarrat Al-Nu'man. Preparations are in progress to complete the remaining houses in northern rural Aleppo. Karam Ali noted that Qatar Charity manages Bab al-Hawa Hospital and implements economic empowerment projects targeting poor families and orphan mothers through training and support for small businesses.
He underlined that Qatar Charity has started new projects in coordination with Syria's Ministries of Health and Education, printing schoolbooks for grades one through nine, renovating schools, and providing medicines and medical supplies. Plans are also underway to establish solar power stations and maintain water and sewage facilities. Ali also explained that food security programs remain a priority, focusing on supporting the wheat value chain and livestock, in addition to sponsoring and operating 12 health centers and supplying the ambulance system with 18 vehicles.
Head of QRCS's representation mission in Syria and Turkiye, Mazen Abdullah Salloum, told QNA that since 2012, the mission has provided a comprehensive response to the Syrian crisis across eight vital sectors, benefiting over 13 million people with total expenditures exceeding $160 million.
Salloum emphasized that QRCS was the first humanitarian organization to deliver relief aid across the border into Syria following the devastating earthquake, in coordination with Qatar Fund for Development, as aid was distributed both in Syria and Turkiye.
Qatar Red Crescent also deployed medical convoys that performed more than 300 specialized surgeries and operated four mobile clinics serving displaced persons. Additionally, the Qatar Red Crescent established 15 residential villages in northern Syria comprising approximately 3,500 apartments benefiting over 60,000 people, alongside repairing hundreds of damaged homes.
For his part, President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Dr. Mohammed Hazem Baqleh, told QNA that cooperation with Qatar Red Crescent has notably developed since December 8 last year, including support for poor families with food baskets, conducting heart surgeries for children, and seasonal projects such as sacrificial offerings during Eid al-Adha and Ramadan support.
In this context, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, Hind Kabawat, expressed to QNA Syria's pride in its relationship with the State of Qatar, praising the humanitarian, moral, and material support Qatar provides to the Syrian people.
This firm and principled Qatari commitment to the Syrian people emphasizes the State of Qatar's humanitarian and developmental role, moving from immediate relief to building resilience through sustainable projects, including residential villages, hospitals, agricultural and water resource support, and economic empowerment for families.