RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Patiently, Muhammad al-Jassem, 39, from the city of Raqqa in northern Syria awaits his family’s “cash card” given by a humanitarian organization operating in the city as he used to receive it every month since 2018.
Al-Jassem, who lives with his nine-membered family in al-Hiswa neighborhood, said he used to receive periodic aid from a relief aid organization. He saves an additional amount of money out of a piece of land he is leasing.
“Receiving [humanitarian] aid and [getting] the amount of money out of leasing make me in no need to work,” he said.
Like al-Jassem’s, there are thousands of families that receive monthly aid in Raqqa either by receiving aid or money via the cash card that entitles its holder to buy foodstuff with a defined amount of money according to members of the family.
Though some families gravely need such aid but the focus by givers on this arena meets local criticism amid negligence of other aspects such as development projects, reconstruction and creating job opportunities.
Some said development projects in a city destroyed 70% is much more important than giving humanitarian food baskets.
From another perspective, giving aid has backfired as large numbers of people no longer work that created inactivity in the society by which a large number of [of people] have become unemployed.
Inactivity
A report released in 2020 by Amnesty International revealed Raqqa is one of the most destroyed cities in modern times.
The expulsion of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) from Raqqa by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) five years ago was followed by the entry of tens of humanitarian organizations (NGO) to the city and its countryside.
There are now 20 NGOs in the city of Raqqa and its countryside, in addition to 112 local organizations whose works focus primarily on aid relief and giving psychological support.
Lorance al-Bursan, a follower of works done by NGOs and the Autonomous Administration in Raqqa said though the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS has promised to reconstruct the city of Raqqa, nothing has been changed yet.
“Peaceful co-existence and social coherence projects are useless,” he said.
Al-Bursan added that support mechanism “was not a success,” for it remained restricted to aid baskets, “It was better to focus on sustainable development and securing basic items for reconstruction such as iron and cement.”
“Sponsoring bodies have evaded responsibility to support energy, water systems and sewage canals. Instead, they focused on delivering food baskets,” al-Bursan noted.
“A lot of families have become unemployed and inactive due to aid baskets,” he told North Press.
There are in Raqqa 150 facilities and factories. People of the region work at such facilities and factories. However, they lack energy because all buildings were destroyed. They need renovation, according to Industry Chamber in the Civil Council of Raqqa, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Donors’ monopoly
Sources in four local NGOs managements operating in Raqqa told North Press that supporting projects are done when donors send the allotted financial grants to run a limited arena to the emails of the international and local organizations. They are also done by announcing the project to a limited number of organizations.
In this relation, information signifies that international donors set the broad lines of such projects that they fund with a scope of freedom to put such a project into effect based on their vision.
This applies to peaceful co-existence and relief aid projects. At a time where local NGOs try to make a balance between donors and their own visions, others carry out projects without any interference to sustain funding, according to local NGOs’ staffs.
In turn, the NGOs file project drafts within the broad lines that are set by the donors. That is, the donors themselves set the policy of funding in delivering relief aid instead of development projects, sources told North Press on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, there are special teams of donors that operate in the region and file thorough studies on the needs of the area. After that, the funded sector will be named.
According to reports of Social Affairs and Work Committee and NGOs Bureau in Raqqa on which North Press was informed, 14 grant programs support local and global NGOs in Raqqa affiliated with European Foreign Ministries and US State Department.
Forgotten sector
Ibtisam al-Abd, co-chair of Agriculture and Irrigation Committee in Raqqa said, compared to damages caused, the per cent of support given to the agricultural sector is less than 20%.
In the Irrigation Bureau, North Press was informed of the list of the of needs which reveals that it needs $253.000 to rehabilitate box culvert located on the truck of the main LMC canal in Raqqa.
The Irrigation Committee needs 198 engineering medium and heavy machinery, in addition to amounts and a number of items that are used in irrigation canals and stations.
In a report North Press was informed on, operational per cent of irrigation canals does not exceed 15% in all projects due to intensity of reed grass and obstructions. They have not been insulated for nearly a decade.
As a result, large spaces of lands in the countryside of Raqqa are out of land reclamation due to high rates of saltiness and great deals of lime that is affected by water owing to obstruction of water drainage as a result of sand and gypsum soils that make the soil unsuitable for agriculture.
According to a report by Irrigation Committee, 203 km of canals in the countryside of Raqqa are in dire need of insulation. Besides, 600 km of main and secondary drainage whose insulation cost estimated at $1.000.000-#1.500.000.
All in all, compared to damages, expenditures in the agrarian sector do not exceed 5%.
Figures and data
According to a report of Organizations Bureau in the Raqqa Civil Council, since 2018 up to October 2022, 20 international NGOs and 12 locals ones signed 864 memos of understanding with the bureau.
North Press obtained a report showing 230 rehabilitation and maintenance projects and 634 reliefs, social and psychological development projects were carried out.
According to figures, 220.232 cash cards, 127.268 mall cards, 996.125 food baskets, 63.839 disinfectants, 8.744 refuge baskets, 22.825 baskets honoring women, and 38.840 NFI baskets that include disinfectants and other items, all were distributed in four years.
Wholesale, 1.477.873 baskets were distributed in the course of four years that amounts to nearly $70 million.
Amounts expedited through the mall cards “Were enough to run mass projects in Raqqa that could have benefitted the region as a whole,” according to al-Bursan.
333 projects were either rehabilitated or run by organizations. This includes schools, bakeries, medication centers, stations, water canals, mills, agrarian drainage, supporting power sector, in addition to rehabilitating roads, sewage canals and hygiene.
Earlier, co-chair of Education Committee in Raqqa Khalaf al-Matar said 27 schools in the city and 31 ones in the countryside are destroyed proper.
Official parties
From his part, Deputy Co-chair of Raqqa Civil Council Ahmad al-Khalil told North Press: “Schools, bridges and power cables were completely destroyed.”
“NGOs helped locals with limited grants. We hope NGOs would move from urgent solutions to building.”
Raqqa Civil Council has time and again called on NGOs to help agriculture, maintain stations and canals, and to contribute to build projects that could help residents of the city to earn a living and to get rid of unemployment that impinges upon the youths,” al-Khalil added.