Press Release

Syria. AICS and UPP start the rehabilitation of an entire paediatric ward in Raqqa

June saw the start of the fourth phase of the "Darna" project, financed by the Italian Cooperation and implemented by Un Ponte Per (UPP) to ensure access to health and protection services for the population of Raqqa, with a special focus on maternal and child services.

Rome 24 September 2021 - In Syria, after 10 years of war, there are still many people living displaced, with minimal or non-existent health services. An emergency that has led to 13,400,000 people being in need of humanitarian aid today: of these, almost half are in severe need. The situation has been exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19, which is causing rising levels of poverty and unemployment, psychosocial distress, domestic violence and serious risks to the lives and growth of children.

This is the context for the 4th phase of 'Darna' ('Our Home'), a programme aimed at the rehabilitation and support of health services in Raqqa. The project is funded by the Italian Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by the NGO Un Ponte Per (UPP), together with the local partner Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC).

The "Darna" programme was launched in the summer of 2018, after the liberation of Raqqa Governorate from Daesh, and will continue until September 2022.

The state of health facilities, however, still remains critical: only one of the two public hospitals in the area has been reopened. Moreover, since the cessation of hostilities to date, more than 300,000 civilians have returned to the area, increasing the pressure on the few available health facilities.

UPP's goal is therefore to ensure that people have sustained, free and quality access to maternal and child health services.

In fact, the intervention of this 4th phase includes the support of the maternal health detachment of the National Hospital in Raqqa, with a major innovation: the activation of an entire paediatric ward from scratch.

The rehabilitation work on the facility was started on 14 September, with the aim of filling an important gap in the urban and sub-urban area of Raqqa, which lacks public and free paediatric facilities and currently has only 25 beds dedicated to paediatric patients.

The new paediatrics department will operate 24 hours a day with 32 new beds, 2 nurses and a paediatrician always present, as well as a paediatric consultation service 8 hours a day and a 24-hour emergency service.

In addition to paediatric services, maternal and reproductive health services will continue to be guaranteed on a daily basis, with a 24-hour service for obstetric emergencies and basic maternal health services such as prenatal and postnatal consultations for mothers and newborns.

The 16-month intervention plans to directly reach almost 28,000 people. This includes about 12,700 women, 8,000 girls and more than 7,000 children.

UPP and KRC will also carry out information, awareness-raising and prevention activities on protection issues, such as violence against women and children and psychosocial wellbeing, in order to increase the self-protection capacities of the most vulnerable. In addition, KRC, with the support of UPP, will provide psychosocial support services for vulnerable women, men, girls and children in the Raqqa area.

UPP continues to be one of the few humanitarian actors - and the only Italian NGO - with the capacity to reach people in need throughout north-east Syria, even in remote and insecure areas.

The 4th phase of "Darna" is part of a broader framework of interventions that UPP, thanks to the valuable support of the Italian Cooperation, has been carrying out in North-East Syria, and in particular in the Governorate of Raqqa, since the beginning of the humanitarian emergency in 2015.