PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN, DECEMBER 14, 2016—While the world watches the fall of Aleppo with disbelief and horror, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has teams outside Aleppo with existing humanitarian aid projects and will increase aid to the worsening crisis.
Working in Aleppo since 2013, Mercy-USA food basket distribution was originally implemented to provide reliable, monthly supplemental food aid to ensure a family’s good health and nutrition but by December 4th of this year, the our remaining stockpiled food baskets were being rationed as the last source of food in the city. Our four field team members who refused to evacuate earlier this summer out of concern for the needy in Aleppo, attempted to distribute the rations from our warehouse when the neighborhood fell under attack causing them to flee to an undisclosed area. The remaining food stores are under Regime control and we hope that the food will end up in the mouths of the needy and starving in Aleppo.
With the fall of Aleppo, tens of thousands of civilians including humanitarian aid workers have been crushed into a neighborhood of less than 2 square miles. Our field team, two men and two women with their families, are there and their fate is unknown at this time. The hope is still for an evacuation agreement with safe passage for these innocent children, their families, and the humanitarian workers who stayed behind to help but would now be considered enemies in eyes of the Assad government.
Mercy-USA Offers Emergency Humanitarian Relief Outside of Aleppo Mercy-USA is continuing its operations in areas outside of Aleppo in Idlib Governorate where tens of thousands of internally displaced persons, IDPs, are surviving in makeshift camps and other improvised housing. We expect that more people will arrive to this region if an evacuation of Aleppo is achieved and we will be ready to offer emergency aid to them. Currently, Mercy-USA delivering food baskets to tens of thousands displaced people in this very barren landscape as well as a winterization project that includes vented stoves and a new eco-friendly fuel to last the winter. See details here. http://bit.ly/2gHD3Du
Mercy-USA to Open a Primary Health Care Clinic The Syrian healthcare system in the in northern Syria has collapsed. The existing health clinics lack adequate capacity and the destruction of so many hospitals has had a spillover effect on the remaining facilities, creating a huge increase in demand. Mercy-USA is opening a new primary health clinic including pediatric and obstetric healthcare. This project will provide life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian health assistance to an affected population of at least 30,000 people including pregnant, lactating women and children living in Northern Syria. Furthermore, this project is designed to support community resilience and increase institutional and response capacity of healthcare workers and support staff.
Umar al-Qadi, CEO of Mercy-USA says, “We want everyone to know that we have not given up on Syria and its people who have been caught up in this calamity. We are determined to stay inside the country and offer life-saving and sustainable help to those who need it most.”
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is dedicated to alleviating human suffering and supporting individuals and their communities to become more self-sufficient. Since 1988, Mercy-USA’s projects focus on improving health, nutrition and access to safe water, as well as promoting economic and educational growth around the world. Mercy-USA has 4-Stars with Charity Navigator. www.mercyusa.org
Media Contact:
Kari Ansari
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development