QRCS provides winter-aid to displaced families, refugees across 13 countries

QRCS

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched its Warm Winter campaign for 2023-2024, operating under the theme ‘Humanity First: Hope for Warmth’. The campaign aims to provide winter-aid to over 230,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), refugees and impoverished individuals across 13 countries.

The countries benefiting from the campaign include Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Niger, Lebanon, Jordan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kosovo.

This year’s campaign has a fundraising target of QR15 million, higher than the past years, given the increasing needs and suffering of millions of people affected by disasters and conflicts. They face the harsh winter with the least available means of living, hardly enough to protect against low temperatures.

Dr Mohamed Salah Ibrahim, director of Relief and International Development Division at QRCS, stated, “When it comes to climate change, nobody is safe. The biggest impact is always on poor and displaced people, who suffer even more from the extremely low temperatures during the winter, when it is difficult to get the clothing, food, and heating they need to survive the bitter cold.”’

Currently, several winter-aid projects are in progress, as follows:

Gaza: As part of the Qatari humanitarian airlift aimed at assisting the war-affected people of Gaza, many of whom have been displaced to other areas due to the ongoing conflict, QRCS has actively contributed to these efforts. QRCS, supported by funding from the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), has taken steps to provide essential items to support those who are homeless. The aid includes blankets, winter clothes, firewood, self-heating meals, food parcels, and other forms of assistance, with the aim of alleviating the suffering of those affected by the conflict in Gaza.

The West Bank: The materials were purchased and are being supplied to the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s (PRCS) warehouses in Jenin. A total of QR 313,818 winter parcels will be distributed to 490 families, or 2,940 people.

Afghanistan: The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) distributed 7,750 blankets to 1,550 displaced families (five blankets each), or 10,850 people whose homes were damaged by the Herat earthquake in October.

Jordan: In cooperation with Jordan National Red Crescent Society (JNRCS), heating fuel vouchers worth QR182,244 were purchased and delivered, and the lists of beneficiaries are under inspection, including 640 families, or 3,200 Syrian refugees and poor Jordanians across the country.

Tajikistan: Under a cooperation agreement with the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan, 80 winter bags, 80 electric heaters, and 140 blankets, will be distributed to 620 beneficiaries, at a cost of QR80,190.

Kosovo: A tender was completed to purchase winter jackets for men, women, and children at a cost of QR80,190.

Lebanon: A supplier has been contracted to procure heating oil worth QR182,500 for 360 families, benefiting 1,800 Syrian refugees and locals in Arsal, Baalbek-Hermel. The initiative involves providing $100 heating oil vouchers to these families, offering support in the face of the elevated prices of fuel in the country.

Syria: QRCS’s office in Turkey and Shafak Organization work together to provide e-coupons worth QR 1,450,000, for the benefit of 1,800 families, or 9,000 people in and outside camps of Aleppo and Idlib.

Bangladeshi: In Dhaka, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) is preparing to distribute winter blankets to 2,640 poor beneficiaries, at a cost of QR 182,316.

Iraqi Kurdistan: A total of 592 heaters and 594 blankets will be distributed to 592 families, or 4,445 refugees, IDPs, and locals in Erbil, at a cost of QR 1,822,556.

Yemen: QRCS’s office in Yemen is pursuing the procedures of purchasing winterization kits for the benefit of 6,000 IDPs, orphans, and poor families in the governorates of Taiz, Sana’a, Ma’rib, Ibb, and Dhale, at a cost of $274,466.