First International Youth Initiative in Solidarity with Syria

Over 50 youths from thirteen countries across the world, have come together to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Syria on April 25th. A team from among the youths will arrive on April 4th to document and assess the situation in the camps before the aid's arrival . The volunteers will be moving through Kilis, Islahiya, Atma, Bab El Salama and Aleppo, as well as visiting  several refugee camps and hospitals inside Turkey. Hayat International Humanitarian Convoy to Syria will be launched from Turkey, a meeting point for all participants. Together, they will head towards the south Turkish borders and into Syria to deliver a variety of much needed aid. The main charities supporting this initiative are UK-based Human Appeal International (HAI), Turkish-based IHH İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), Canada-based Human Concern International (HCI) and Beirut-based Gawth for Emergency Relief and Aid. The participants involved have raised donations from the UK, Turkey, Canada, Egypt, Australia, Syria, Lebanon, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine and Somalia.

The convoy will deliver medical equipment, food parcels, clothing and educational material to refugee camps on the Syrian-Turkish borders and across different regions inside Syria itself. While the main donating charities are HAI, IRW, HCI, GAWTH, the overall facilitation will be carried out by IHH and local humanitarian organisations including Watan (a Syrian charity working through several local civil society institutions to rebuild the country). The convoy will be delivering a variety of aid packs to 20,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey and 30,000 internally displaced refugees in Aleppo. It will also deliver food parcels to 5,000 families inside Syria that will cover their needs for a whole month. Because the staple food of bread is not even available, the convoy will deliver flour to 10 bakeries inside Syria. The flour supply will provide each bakery with enough bread to feed 500 people for a month. Also, 1000 children will receive aid materials including food, clothing and medical aid for a period of two months. Because many of the Syrian people have suffered psychological trauma, The Hayat Convoy is bringing specialists who will provide psychological support and treatment to 1000 children and 1000 women based in the refugee camps of Turkey and Syria.

"Hayat is an initiative that developed due to the lack of awareness regarding the humanitarian crisis and lack of coordinated aid being delivered to the people of Syria. Together, as organisations and individuals, we want to make a statement that we are supporting every person in need, that we will strive to help them and let the world know about their suffering" said Hozaifa Aboulfotouh, Head Coordinator of The Hayat Convoy.

The Hayat Convoy aims to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation across Syria and in refugee camps. Therefore, participants in the convoy include several public figures, activists, researchers, medical specialists and aid workers. The young volunteers will be going to witness the distribution and convey back to their communities the reality of the situation.  

“Taking part in The Hayat Convoy is a great honour and an incredible opportunity to see first-hand the situation in Syria and the surrounding refugee camps. I hope to raise awareness of the situation unfolding in the area and to help deliver aid to Syrian refugees who desperately need it” says UK convoy team member Hannah Wilson, a 19-year old university student of international politics and economics.

The humanitarian crisis in Syria began two years ago with the onset of protests on March 15, 2011 as the Arab Spring swept across the region. Violence that began in the rural areas of Daraa, Homs and Idleb soon spread throughout the whole country. According to UNHCR statistics, the violence has left nearly 70,000 people killed, over 1 million Syrian refugees displaced and hundreds of thousands injured.

“During my recent visit to the Zaatari Camp, I noticed that there were many more young people than I expected to see. Thousands of young Syrians have now lost two years of their lives. Although the situation in Syria is really grave, being part of this effort as a young person is a breath of fresh air; it will have a positive impact on young Syrians” says 23-year old Ali Yousef, Human Appeal Fundraiser.

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