While the recent toppling of Bashar al-Assad was widely celebrated across Syria, the country’s future remains unstable, with more than 90% of the population relying on humanitarian aid to survive.
According to the UN Refugee agency, more than one million people have been forced to flee their homes in the last three weeks. At the same time, thousands of Syrian refugees have returned from Turkey and Lebanon, as well as a smaller number from Jordan.
Syria was already grappling with one of the largest displacement crises in the world.
More than a decade of conflict had forced 14 million Syrians from their homes. A further 7.2 million Syrians remain displaced in their own country, where over half of the population is experiencing food insecurity and around 3 million people are suffering from extreme hunger.
Syria’s internally displaced population faces significant challenges every day, particularly in accessing essential public services, such as health care and education, said Mana Al-Ansari, external affairs director at Qatar Charity. He went on to explain that many schools have been destroyed, and the ones still standing are overcrowded, leaving countless children with disrupted education. These young people, along with other displaced individuals enduring harsh conditions and with little hope for the future, are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment by extremist groups.
Recognizing the huge needs across Syria and among the refugee population in neighboring Turkey — where communities had once again been uprooted following the two devastating earthquakes in 2023 — Qatar Charity set out to provide housing, basic services, and employment prospects to displaced people through the construction of Al Amal City. Since 1992, Qatar Charity has been responding to crisis and disasters, prioritizing children and the provision of basic needs in education, health, and water.
The first families entered their new homes in Al Amal City last month. The feedback so far has been positive, said Al-Ansari, and there is already a sense of community with people coming together to help each other move and cultivate small plots of land.
Devex spoke to Al-Ansari to find out more about this unique project and how it will give displaced Syrians a better future.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the Al Amal City project, and what are its main goals?
Al Amal City is designed to accommodate displaced Syrians and refugees. The city is located in Aleppo and will consist of 1,400 reinforced concrete houses with various design options. It will also offer key services in health and education. We expect that the city will play a pivotal role in providing a decent life for more than 10,000 people while meeting all their basic needs. The primary goal is to encourage and empower these families to work, help elevate their status by seeking sources of income, and avoid emerging radical potential.
Through a collaboration with the Turkish government, represented by Kilis state, and NGOs, selection criteria were established which ensured that targeted groups — homeless people, orphans, and widows — were given priority in accessing the housing. Most of the city’s residents were in the Al Salama camp, near the Turkish border.
What facilities will the city provide, and how will they contribute to building a dignified and self-sufficient community?
Al Amal City is not only a housing community that aims to accommodate displaced people but also to provide a sustainable way of living for these groups who have suffered for a long period of time. In our initial design phase, we included all the public needs that can be considered in the city — schools, a health care center, a vocational school, a kindergarten, a mosque, an administrative building, a water well, a sports club, a multipurpose center, and a multipurpose social hall. This social hall will also be equipped with public service facilities, such as a water network, electricity, and a sewer system.
The vocational training will play a pivotal role in building a resilient, self-sustainable community by helping people develop or learn new skills. On top of that, we're also focusing on children and teenagers, with schools from kindergarten to grade 12. The hope is that they will go on to universities in Syria and Turkey and come back to Al Amal City to contribute to the community in the near future.
What challenges did you face in implementing the project, and how were they overcome?
The challenges started at the funding stage — which was crucial to support the scale of the project — but we overcame this by building strong partnerships with donors and organizations committed to supporting displaced communities. Another challenge has been coordinating logistics in a conflict zone. This was addressed by working with local stakeholders and ensuring safe transportation routes. Many of the challenges we’ve faced would not have been resolved without the active participation of displaced and local people. They played a role in building the city, starting from the planning stage, which has led to their continued involvement.
How will Qatar Charity support the residents of Al Amal City in the long term?
The project is divided into multiple phases. The first phase is the construction phase, which we have completed so far. The second phase is the selection of beneficiaries and housing, and this phase is almost complete. Currently, we are working on implementing the third phase, which is related to operating services in the city for the next two years to cover essential needs while empowering the residents. We will continue to monitor their status until we reach our goal and periodically provide adequate support that fits the needs of the people there.
Looking ahead, how do you envision the city contributing to the broader recovery and resilience-building efforts for displaced Syrians?
By providing displaced communities with stable housing, access to education, health care, and economic opportunities, such projects help them rebuild their lives and foster self-reliance and community engagement, reducing dependency on aid. We are currently working on another city that will be built in another location in Syria. We are at the final steps of the design and planning phase, and we will keep adopting such models due to the great impact we have seen after Al Amal City.
Learn more about the work of Qatar Charity here.