An official delegation from Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has visited Lebanon to check the progress of winter relief projects, aimed at helping 37,500 Syrian refugees in Arsal, Lebanon. The projects, co-launched with Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), form part of a co-operation agreement between the two organisations to provide winterisation aid to target beneficiaries.
A series of meetings and field visits to Syrian refugee camps in Arsal were held from January 26, in addition to a humanitarian aid convoy comprising winter blankets (five per family), coronavirus prevention health kits (one per family), women's essentials (two per family) and winterisation kits (each catering for five persons), a press statement noted.
At the Arsal camps, living conditions are almost the same but the humanitarian team's visit to a tent of a poor Syrian family was somewhat different. The team met Aya, a young girl born in the middle of snow and rain, who told them their difficult and challenging situation with little medication, food and body warmers.
That was partly why QFFD's delegation took part in supervising the distribution of winterisation aid. Every winter, temperatures drop sharply in Lebanon. Recently, the country was stricken by the Hiba snowstorm, with a wind speed of up to 100km per hour.
The mountainous areas, including Arsal, were covered in snow. All of this adds to the brunt of the winter for Syrian refugees, who already cannot afford to buy heating fuel, winter wear and other supplies.
The delegation's agenda included interviews with some beneficiary families at the Syrian refugee camps of Arsal, Bekaa. They also made a field visit to one of the camps where tents are equipped with thermal insulation sheets.
After that, they held meetings with the team of QRCS' mission in Lebanon to discuss the ongoing projects. Another meeting was held with representatives of the Lebanese Red Cross and the Shelter Cluster Co-ordinator at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon.
QFFD and QRCS signed two grant agreements to support the Syrians during the winter. Under the first agreement, the funds will go to providing winterisation aid for 30,000 beneficiaries in northwestern Syria, including heating materials, wool blankets, hygiene kits and Covid-19 prevention supplies.
The second agreement involves digging 10 water canals and constructing 500 concrete barriers around refugee camps to reduce the risk of rainwater flow into the tents, as well as distributing blankets, winter wear, hygiene kits and Covid-19 prevention materials.

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