A cafeteria run by people with psychiatric disabilities. A course for pizza makers, support for the production of accessories needed to help people with motor disabilities. This and much more is at the centre of a new intervention in Jordan, entirely dedicated to the Syrian refugee community and the Jordanian host community.
Attention to particularly vulnerable communities has always been part of our work in the contexts in which we operate, and in particular in Jordan, where we have been working with the Syrian refugee community for years.
Today, thanks to the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), we can launch a series of new interventions, entirely dedicated to people with disabilities.
These include 'Madrasati Ala' (My most beautiful school), 'Adreen' and 'Bina'a Jusour' (Let's build bridges), designed to improve access to work for refugees from Syria, Iraq and the Jordanian community, in cooperation with numerous local partners.
Among them is the Al Hussein Society Jordan Center for Training and Inclusion, a pioneering centre that has been involved in the treatment of physical, sensory and psycho-social disabilities for years, guaranteeing fundamental services focusing on the social integration and autonomy of people with disabilities.
Together with them we will work throughout the year to create fair and sustainable employment opportunities, overcoming barriers together and building bridges that can break them down.
Together with the Al Hussein Society and Field Ready, an organisation of experienced engineers who contribute to humanitarian assistance with state-of-the-art solutions, we will launch a production of mobility aids and essential accessories for the mobility impaired not yet present in Jordan, which will then be made commercially available, generating profit for both the Al Hussein centre and the people reached, who are directly involved in their production.
We will also cooperate with Our Step, a Jordanian cooperative operating in the governorate of Zarqa, in the north-east of the country, founded and run by people currently in psychiatric care who work in assisting community members with psychosocial disabilities.
We chose to support it in a bold venture: to take over a cafeteria inside the Russaifeh hospital in Zarqa, which will create new jobs for Jordanian and Syrian community members with psychiatric disorders.
'Our Step' will then work with us to select families in the area who will be the recipients of micro-financing to launch small businesses, for which they will be trained in finance and entrepreneurship.
In Amman, as part of the same project, a pizzeria by the slice will also be opened, thanks to the support of the Apostolic Nunciature in Jordan, which has made space and funds available to set up a workshop that will employ young unemployed Jordanians and Syrians, teaching them pizza-making techniques with a course certified by Confartigianato.
At the end of the course, some of the young pizza makers will be employed and will continue pizza production, running the new business independently.
In addition, we will facilitate the selection of other young people who have been out of work in the refugee and host communities to participate in training placements in various humanitarian organisations, both in the capital and in other areas of the country. In an attempt to bring out new talents and create job opportunities for young people interested in working in cooperation.
Continuing to build walls and break down barriers, both physical and mental, in order to imagine together a future in which each community can live with dignity, despite the difficulties, wars and violence suffered.
Ensuring safe natural childbirth, improving care and specialised health services for women and newbornsə, initiating information and prevention processes, reducing the risk of sexual and gender-based violence.
These were the objectives of the 'Integrated Reproductive Health Services' project, funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and dedicated to improving the physical, mental and social health status of women in north-eastern Syria, with a focus on victims of violence and exploitation.
The project takes place in the governorates of Al Hassake, Arraqqa, Aleppo, and has involved around 10,000 women in a few months, in places like Raqqa, Ras El Ain and Tabqa.
Through this intervention, aimed at increasing the number of women accessing maternity services in city hospitals and ensuring the growth of safe natural childbirths with the assistance of specialised personnel, six natural childbirth services were created and maternity services guaranteed in three hospitals, in the cities of Tabqa, Ras El Ayn and Tal Temer.
In these hospitals, 3 additional intensive care units for the newborn, surgical rooms for Caesarean sections, 9 supplementary consultation services for child health and 9 consultation services for women's health were created.
Complementary services that contribute to the full effectiveness of the surgical wards, such as the laboratory and the blood bank, were also implemented as part of the project.
Without ever forgetting the processes of information and prevention, special attention was paid to the topics of reproductive health, sexual violence, and gender, through the planning of information sessions, campaigns and health education programmes. To further strengthen the empowerment of the women involved, psychological recreational groups and activities, individual sessions and group sessions were implemented.
Once again on the side of those who survive war and gender-based violence, to build processes of inclusion, and ensure a future of health and peace for those who are born.
Our contribution to the development of the younger generation in Jordan does not stop: the coming months will see us active in an intervention that continues to focus on education and children's rights.
'Madrasati Ahla' (My Most Beautiful School) is a project, financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), which will involve three schools in the governorate of Irbid, in the north of the country, for the next few months, with a comprehensive approach of structural rehabilitation of the buildings, training for teachers and psychosocial and learning support for the childrenə.
In addition to bringing spaces up to health and safety standards, the schools will see the removal of architectural barriers to facilitate access for studentsə, teachers and staff with disabilities, creating a more welcoming and inclusive environment for every member of the school community.
An intervention that will be accompanied by training courses for school teachers on psychosocial pathologies and the inclusion of children with disabilities within the small school community.
Teachers will also be trained on reducing violence at school, an issue very much present in the country, which we want to address not only to make schools safer environments, but to protect Jordanian and Syrianə children from dropping out of school.
Bullying and violence at school are in fact among the biggest causes of drop-outs; to prevent them, in this project we will also involve families and the whole community through a radio awareness campaign on child protection.
Our collaboration with Lina Khalifeh, Jordanian activist and founder of SheFighter, the first centre for women's self-defence in the Middle East, with whom we have been working since 2016, continues. Together with her and her staff, we will organise new self-defence courses, aimed at teachers and girls, which will be accompanied by the usual psychosocial support for the development of inner strength and self-confidence.
Finally, home school support courses will be launched, aimed at accompanying them in learning and carrying out their daily tasks.
To stand by those at risk of dropping out, but also to help those who have been left out of formal education - often because they are refugees and have fled war - and have the right to reintegrate.
Building a better future for all, starting with the new generations.
A new intervention in Iraq dedicated to vocational training of young refugees and displaced persons, education and dialogue is launched.
Promoting vocational training, job placement, social cohesion and confidence building between the Syrian refugee, displaced Iraqi and host Kurdish communities in Iraq, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, by supporting cultural identities, dialogue and inter-group relations.
This is the objective of 'Yalla Shebab', a new project supported by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), which will see us engaged for the next 12 months in the construction of a vocational training centre and a new youth centre, which will be added to the other centres created in recent years in Iraqi Kurdistan.
We will do this together with our local partners in Al Mesalla and the community of Deir Mar Musa, with whom we have been working for years in Iraq, with the aim of involving at least 250 young people aged between 18 and 30.
For these young girls, refugees from Syria or displaced from other parts of Iraq, vocational, language and computer courses will be organised to help them regain their economic independence, including through internships in local companies.
At the same time, we will organise the same activities in the new Youth Centre as in the other Centres we have set up in Iraq, with a focus on mediation, reconciliation and peacebuilding.
The activities will be managed locally by the Deir Mar Musa and Al Mesalla Community, with our support.
A new intervention in Iraq is underway to accompany the return to areas liberated from Daesh of communities that had fled in 2014, continuing our efforts for those still displaced.
Accompanying the communities of Bashiqa, Qaraqosh and Bertella on their long and difficult journey home after the liberation of these areas from the presence of Daesh, which had occupied them during its advance into the Nineveh Plain in the summer of 2014.
This is the objective of 'Ma'an Na'ud' (Let's come back together), a new programme we have just launched in Iraq thanks to the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), and which will see us engaged for the next 10 months.
The returning displaced Iraqi communities need psycho-social support and reproductive health services in a context where reconstruction - human and material - has just begun. Services that we aim to provide to over 3,000 women and adolescents throughout the Nineveh Governorate.
At the same time, psycho-social support techniques will be strengthened in schools and camps that still receive displaced Iraqis - such as the one in Ashti, where we have been working for years - through specific training for teachers, psychologists and school assistants.
The aim of the project is to reach 100 teachers, 12 psychologists and operators, to involve 2,300 people, including 700 students, in the work of resilience groups.
The establishment of the Civil Peace Corps was an absolute novelty on the European and global scene. Envisaged by the Italian Stability Law of December 2013 thanks to an amendment tabled by Giulio Marcon (SeL) and the work carried out by networks, NGOs and associations as part of the broader campaign "Another Defence is possible!" for the establishment of a civilian, unarmed and non-violent Defence in Italy, it was only in December 2015 that it saw the decree approved by the Department of Youth and National Civil Service.
Associations, organisations and NGOs were thus able to start writing projects that envisage the deployment of 58 young volunteersə each year in 13 projects in 'conflict, conflict-prone or post-conflict areas', 24 in 4 projects in the 'environmental emergency abroad' area and another 24 in 3 projects for the 'environmental emergency in Italy' area. In total, 20 projects and 106 volunteersə, appropriately trained in Italy to work in these contexts.
The projects presented by Un Ponte Per envisage 4 volunteersə in Lebanon and 4 in Jordan for one year, from September 2017 to work with the Syrian and Palestinian refugee and host communities, and from 2023 also 4 volunteersə in Romania, to support the Ukrainian refugee community.
Participation in the Civil Peace Corps is possible through application to a call for applications which is published annually by the Department of Youth and National Civil Service.
A new emergency plan supported by European funds and private donors is underway, through which together with our local partner, the Kurdish Red Crescent, we will provide life-saving healthcare to war-wounded civilians fleeing Raqqa and the population in north-east Syria.
The first phase, launched in July 2017 immediately after the start of the battle to liberate Raqqa, ensured thousands of injured and trapped civilians in the Daesh (Islamic State) stronghold had access to life-saving treatment for 10 months, through direct support to the country's north-eastern health system.
This, in fact, is the aim of the life-saving health care programme, an intervention thanks to which it has been possible to purchase 15 ambulances, directly support specialised teams of local doctors and health workers, set up 2Trauma Stabilisation Points (TSPs) on the outskirts of Raqqa, before transferring them to the nearest hospitals, thus increasing their chances of survival, 2 Emergency First Aid Centres between Raqqa and the Areesha refugee camp.
For the duration of the battle, the people trapped in Raqqa would not have had access to any health facilities, as the few existing ones were too far away from the frontline where the fighting took place.
The intervention of Un Ponte Per and the Kurdish Red Crescent allowed them to push to the front line by sending ambulances and specialised teams to recover the most seriously injured people and transport them to the nearest Trauma Stabilisation Points.
Thanks to this action, it was possible to lengthen the so-called 'golden hour', the time frame within which a seriously injured patient has a better chance of survival if treated promptly and stabilised, and then moved to hospital facilities in the north of the country.
An action that has been rescheduled month after month to best adapt to the extremely changeable context and best respond to the needs of the civilian population.
In parallel, frontline health workers were provided with training in psychological first aid techniques (PFA), handling civilian casualties in conflict zones, decontamination methods in the event of chemical attacks and how to behave in mined areas.
The first phase, which ended in March, provided healthcare for over 103,000 people. With the second phase, from April to December 2018, the intervention was also extended to the governorates of Hasakeh and Deir er Zor, with the aim of providing health care to 110,000 people.
Through the strengthening of theEmergency Primary Care Centres (EPCCs) and the system of mobile health units to reach the most isolated areas, which will increase to 21 vehicles. Training is also continuing to improve the skills of local health workers and project staff in life-saving procedures and trauma care, primary health care protocols, monitoring and administration. While special attention will be paid to methodologies for identifying and protecting victims of abuse, violence and discrimination, in order to develop dedicated services.
The third phase, which extended throughout 2019, involved the strengthening of all previous interventions and the extension of health services provided outside clinics to reach the most vulnerable segments of the population and increase resilience. It also saw an increased involvement of local communities in the planning and delivery of services, and the deployment of Community Health Workers (CHWs).
An emergency project that is part of the broader intervention that Un Ponte Per has been carrying out in north-east Syria since 2015, through direct support for the work of the Kurdish Red Crescent, its health centres and the training of specialised medical personnel.
A year-long programme to provide psycho-social support to 10,800 Iraqi children kicked off. One year of work in 25 schools in Mosul and newly liberated areas. As the military operations to liberate the city of Mosul, stronghold of Daesh (Islamic State) in Iraq, come to an end, our intervention to provide psycho-social support to Iraqi children who have suffered the consequences of the war over the past three years begins.
"Ahlein" (Welcome) is the name of the programme that, thanks to Unicef's support, will see us engaged for the next 12 months in 25 Iraqi schools in the liberated areas of East Mosul, Tel Kaif and Bashiqa, as well as in the refugee camps where thousands of displaced Iraqi families have found refuge. Reaching more than 10,800 minors between the ages of 5 and 17 is the goal, through a programme that will provide them with psycho-social support to mitigate the traumas they have suffered, through play and recreational activities, resilience groups and targeted interventions, which also aim to train more than 200 teachers.
The long-term aim of the project is in fact to enable school staff to carry out the main psycho-social support activities necessary for minors in conflict zones, and to identify any cases requiring specific assistance. Specifically, the programme will focus on 10 primary and secondary schools in the city of Mosul (eastern area), and on another 15 school facilities in the liberated villages of the Tel Kaif and Bashiqa districts, where we were already operating before the 2014 emergency through the renovation and securing of school buildings. In addition to these, support will be provided in the camps and areas that received displaced families from the Mosul area, and in particular Bajed Kandala, Shariya, Shekhan, Mam Rashan, Essian and Nargazlia.
Psycho-social support through resilience groups and play-therapy activities is a field of intervention that we have been carrying out for some time now in the camps that have welcomed people displaced in the Erbil and Dohuk areas following the advance of Daesh into the country in 2014. We have been able to develop important partnerships with local government Mental Health Departments, which have led to the construction of common practices and the adoption of methodologies developed together, which have allowed us to accompany and support thousands of Iraqi childrenə and their families in recent years.
With this new project dedicated to Mosul and the liberated areas, more than 16,890 people will be reached, in a delicate phase for the country, in which it is essential to intervene. To mitigate the effects that younger people have suffered in recent years, so that as they grow up they do not develop trauma. And to begin together to look to the future of the country, starting with the resilience of the new generations.
A new intervention in Jordan, supported by OCHA and dedicated to health protection and access to rights for people with disabilities, has started: it is called 'Adreen' and will continue for the next eight months.
The work will focus mainly in the rural areas of the country and in particular in Ramtha, a border area with Syria, which is home to a high number of people with severe war injuries. The project is particularly aimed at the most marginalised people, who find it difficult to access essential health services: in addition to their motor limitations or lack of adequate facilities, social stigma and discrimination towards disabilities and chronic medical conditions play a central role in the isolation of the community we want to reach.
To improve health conditions, as always, but also to contribute to the social inclusion of those who often remain cut off due to what are considered limitations. For this action, we will work together with the Al Hussein Society Jordan Centre for Training and Inclusion, a pioneering centre for the treatment of physical, sensory and psychosocial disabilities, which has long been committed to providing services to the most marginalised communities by promoting the autonomy and integration of people with disabilities.
At the heart of the project is the operation of mobile clinics, on board of which aə physiotherapist, aə psychologist and anə occupational therapist will be available for in-depth examinations, with the aim of identifying the needs of patients with physical and psychomotor disabilities, and other family members in need of specialised medical assistance. A radio campaign will also be launched to inform the population about the intervention, the services available, and how to access the mobile clinic units, aiming to raise awareness in the community about disabilities and the importance of integration.
After the examinations, doctors and experts will advise the assisted persons on the best treatment and interventions at state medical facilities, to which we will accompany them, including financially. We will then organise rehabilitation sessions according to specific individual needs, including at home for those who are unable to travel to hospitals. War wounded and people suffering from severe degenerative diseases will be the priorities of our intervention, which together with the Al Hussein centre aims at providing mobility aids needed to assist patients but not yet available in Jordan.
Furthermore, thanks to the intervention of occupational therapy experts, we will intervene on the architectural barriers to be eliminated and on any places in the homes of the people reached to be modified according to their motor needs. Attempting to build a safe and comfortable environment around them. And continuing to build bridges and break down walls. Especially when it comes to architectural or mental barriers that do not guarantee equal rights to allə.
Providing psycho-social support, community activities, promoting social cohesion, knowledge and dialogue between the Syrian refugee population, displaced Iraqis and the host community in the Arbat area (Sulaymaniyah), Iraq, through the establishment of a community centre.
This is the goal of a new project that will see us engaged for the next 12 months, in collaboration with our local partners from the Democracy and Human Rights Development Centre (DHRD) and the Civil Development Centre (CDO), thanks to the support of UNDP. Many activities will be organised within the Arbat Community Centre, with a special focus on the most vulnerable groups, such as Syrianə, Iraqiə and Kurdə women and children. These include training to combat and raise awareness of gender-based violence, psycho-social and psychiatric support for victims, and legal support if necessary.
In addition, after-school activities will be organised in the centre for more than 500 childrenə and boysə, which will include Kurdish language and computer courses, non-formal education activities (theatre, social circus, music and sports courses). Kurdish language, computer, theatre, dance, music and sports courses will also be dedicated to 300 women. Spaces necessary for the opening of a library will also be rehabilitated.
In a second phase of the project, workshops and awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of dialogue and peaceful mediation will also be organised for members of civil society, NGOs and local committees, with a special focus on women and youth. On a bi-weekly basis, collective dialogues will be organised on particular issues affecting the communities to avoid future divisions and rifts.
The final objective of the intervention will then be to identify a group of volunteers, made up of young people from the 3 communities, who will take part in the centre's support activities by collaborating in setting up new committees, designing information campaigns and social events for the communities.
