Press Release

North-East Syria. Italian Cooperation and UPP protecting women and minors in Raqqa

The "Darna Al-Aman" project, financed by AICS and implemented by Un Ponte Per (UPP) to increase access to protection services, health and psychophysical wellbeing for the most vulnerable population in the Raqqa area, comes to an end. Many results and satisfactions.

Rome, 10 May 2022 - After 15 months of intense work, "Darna Al-Aman" (Our Protected Home), the third phase of the protection, psychophysical and social health, women's empowerment and child protection programme financed by the Italian Cooperation and implemented by the Italian NGO Un Ponte Per (UPP), together with local partners DOZ and the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC) in North-East Syria, comes to an end.

Raqqa remains one of the areas in North East Syria most affected by the decades-long hostilities, the severe economic crisis and the impacts of the pandemic. Out of 330,000 people living in Raqqa, around 230,000 are in dire straits. Of these, boys and girls continue to be among the most severely affected population groups: child labour and early marriages record very high rates and are among the main causes preventing children from going to school. Gender-based violence also continues to disproportionately affect the lives of women and girls: only 7 per cent of communities across Syria, as reported by the United Nations, have access to services dedicated to handling cases of gender-based violence and child abuse, neglect and exploitation.

For these reasons, in the third year of the project UPP set up two Safe Spaces in cooperation with the local partner DOZ:

- A first "Women and Girls Safe Space" with a women's empowerment approach where women can access information on rights and health and rebuild through social activities̀ a network of mutual support between women. Here, workers provide psychosocial support and integrated non-stigmatising individual services for women and girls who are survivors of gender-based violence. During the year, 1,239 accessed the space's̀ activities, with 3,702 total accesses and 493 group activities. The greatest challenge was to be able to involve adolescent girls, making families feel secure about their participation.

- A second'Child Friendly Space', where children and their families can receive protection, psychosocial support and information on rights and health, develop self-esteem and creative and social skills, play safely with key messages to prevent child labour, early marriage and discrimination. A total of 1,564 children and adolescents were involved in thè activities, with 9,268 total accesses and 792 group activities.

In both Centres, case management services were provided by specialised case workers, involving 116 women and girls survivors or at risk of gender-based violence and 36 cases of minors exposed to the risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Both spaces were established close to the Raqqa Al Hilal public hospital, where Un Ponte Per and the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC) continue to provide reproductive health, paediatrics and newborn health services, ensuring free pre/postnatal visits to 991 pregnant women and postnatal visits to 732 newborns this year. In addition, the Mobile Units for Reproductive Health carried out 8,718 gynaecological, pre-natal and paediatric visits in rural Raqqa, with a total of 9,450 people reached . Since January 2021, UPP and KRC have started to provide psychological support in the same hospital, strengthening the integrated model of health and protection services to promote people's overall psychosocial well-being.

In fact, to crown this year's celebration of International Women's Day on 8 March 2022, DOZ organised and hosted the first official women's football match in the history of Raqqa. "The match represented a strong moment of equality and inclusion of women and girls in public spaces," says Marta, a protection specialist.

"Darna Al-Aman" 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 Raqqa Governorate, since the beginning of the humanitarian emergency in 2015.

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Safe Spaces will continue to operate thanks to funds from Un Ponte Per.