ERC inaugurates housing project in Syria

Upon the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ERC announced in April the construction of 1,000 prefabricated housing units in seven areas in the Latakia Governorate worth AED65 million to assist Syrian families affected by the earthquake that hit the country on 6th February, 2023.

Hamoud Al Junaibi, acting ERC Secretary General, affirmed that Al Naqa’a housing project is an extension of the humanitarian and relief efforts undertaken by the UAE in the Syrian Arab Republic in general and Lattakia Governorate in particular, based on its sincere commitment to help all those affected by the repercussions of the earthquake and alleviate their suffering.

He said the housing project was inaugurated in coincidence with World Humanitarian Day on 19th August in confirmation of the ERC’s commitment to continue the UAE’s efforts to mitigate repercussions of natural disasters and crises on lives in sisterly and friendly countries and support development and reconstruction in affected areas.

The housing units were constructed in line with the best standards in terms of raw material quality, ventilation and utilising solar power to generate electricity. Each housing unit has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. It can accommodate six family members.

He said that a committee was formed from representative of the local development authority, the Latakia Governorate Council, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other relevant authorities to select eligible families to receive the housing units.

Amer Hilal, Governor of Latakia, thanked the UAE for implementing humanitarian and relief projects in Syria since the early days of the earthquake, noting that the health, educational, relief and services projects undertaken by the UAE had great impact on alleviating suffering of quake hit people and helping them to resume their lives.

The high-quality and fully serviced Al Naqa’a housing project will contribute to bring about stability for a number of families who lost their homes as a result of the earthquake, he added.

Latakia Governorate, he continued, had prepared seven locations on a total area measuring 10 hectares for the establishment of the housing units, and provided them with basic infrastructure including sewerage, electricity and phone networks and services centres.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Abdul Hakeem Al-Nuaimi, Chargé d'Affairs in the UAE Embassy of the in Damascus, and a number of ERC representatives and Syrian officials.

UAE Embassy recently witnessed inauguration of the first coordination office for UAE foreign aid in the country's missions abroad, at the country's embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus. The office aims to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of aid in accordance with the best international standards, such as supervising the UAE foreign aid file in the beneficiary countries, to ensure coordination of the efforts of the UAE donors to ensure their effectiveness for the beneficiaries, and continuous follow-up of projects and programmes in this regard.