Funds from the Danish Government have enabled the Danish Refugee Council to rehabilitate seven Schools in areas, where a large number of Iraqi refugees have put the local school system under heavy pressure. The schools will be handed over to the Ministry of Education on a ceremony February 19.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is one of the few international NGOs who have obtained permission to operate in Syria. DRC has developed an assistance program in partnership with the Danish government, UNHCR, the Ministry of Education and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. DRC’s objective is to ensure effective protection and humanitarian assistance to Iraqi refugees.

The ceremony February 19 will mark the first step in a larger plan to increace the Syrian capacity to absorb a significant number of Iraqi refugee children into the Syrian educational system.

“Syria has maintained an open border policy allowing Iraqis to enter Syria and to enjoy the same access to services as the population. This has off course led to a great pressure on the infrastructure, challenging the hospitality of the Syrians. Therefore we have, among other things, worked to increase the capacity of the school system,” says Olivier Beucher, Country Director of DRC, Syria.

The seven refugee-hosting schools are located in Dwellaa and Kabbas areas of Damascus. The support consisted of rehabilitation works, expansion such as construction of additional
classrooms and equipment.

The project started in June 2008 and has been funded by the Danish government through UNHCR who was also associated to the project in its whole cycle. The project has been implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Education with whom works were jointly monitored. Therefore the opening ceremony will be attended by The Minister for Education, Dr. Ali SA'AD and the Danish ambassador Mr. Ole Egberg Mikkelsen.

“The Syrian Ministry of Education has been very satisfied with the work and outcome of the partnership, In the light of the project’s impact and the excellent relations established with the Ministry of Education, an ambitious program for 2009 has been set up in which we are going to construct a school and rehabilitate 16 others in Damascus, Homs and Quneitra/Aleppo,” says Olivier Beucher.

Further information:
Contact: Mr. Olivier Beucher, country director, DRC Syria on cell phone: +963 - (0)991 794 285 or Mr. Christian Jacob Hansen, program coordinator of DRC, Middeleast on +45 33 73 5036.

Back to: News