ACT Alliance Team Visits the Projects Implemented in Collaboration with MECC in Aleppo and Latakia
You can find some photos at the end of the text.
A team from ACT Alliance organization visited Aleppo, on 18 September 2024, accompanied by a team from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), in order to review the projects being implemented by the Council there. These projects aim to alleviate the economic hardships resulting from years of conflict and instability.
Both teams met at the MECC Office in Aleppo, where they were briefed on the projects implemented by the Council to support those affected by the earthquake over the past year. The briefing also covered current programs, including the restoration of clinics, schools, and Church and social facilities damaged by the crisis in Syria, as well as cash assistance programs for the elderly, among other initiatives.
The meeting included discussions about the deteriorating economic situation in Syria, particularly in Aleppo, and the challenges that the community faces amid rising living costs and unemployment. In addition, the importance of the role played by humanitarian organizations in general, and MECC in particular, in securing the community's needs was emphasized, along with the vital partnership between ACT Alliance and MECC in supporting the most vulnerable groups and addressing their basic needs.
The ACT Alliance and MECC teams also embarked on a field tour, visiting “Apolonia Center” clinic under the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and “Bani Taghlib II” School under the Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese, both of which are being restored by the Council. The teams also visited one of the beneficiaries of the cash assistance program supporting the elderly in Aleppo.
On September 20, the ACT Alliance team visited beneficiaries of the livelihoods program, which supports small businesses in Latakia, accompanied by a team from the MECC Diakonia and Social Service Department. These projects are part of the MECC initiative to enhance livelihoods for those affected by the earthquake in Latakia, in collaboration with ACT Alliance.
The teams first visited a sewing workshop owned by one of the beneficiaries of the livelihoods program, a woman who is the sole breadwinner for her family after her husband became ill and her family was displaced from Idlib due to the war. MECC provided her with the essential equipment and supplies to establish her small business.
The teams reviewed the work in the sewing workshop, inspected the machines and tools provided, and discussed with the beneficiary about the workshop's operations and her ideas and plans for developing her small business. The beneficiary, aged 48 years old, expressed her gratitude for the assistance, noting that the workshop had significantly improved her family’s living conditions. She explained that the sewing workshop not only provided her with financial stability but also restored her sense of independence.
The teams then visited another project owned by a 43-year-old woman who also received MECC support to establish a nail care salon. The ACT team was impressed by the professionalism and quality of the salon’s work.
The beneficiary explained how the MECC’s assistance, including a small business management course and a professional toolkit, enabled her to pursue her passion for beauty services and secure a stable income for her family, especially since her husband is ill and unable to work.
After visiting the projects, MECC team explained the implementation process for the small business support program, from initial interviews with candidates, through two stages of entrepreneurship training, where beneficiaries learn how to create successful businesses, to the final interviews evaluating each proposed project. They also discussed the criteria for selecting projects to fund and the mechanisms for evaluating and monitoring these projects to ensure their economic viability, sustainability, and desired impact on beneficiary families.
The MECC team also explained their transparent communication mechanisms with beneficiaries through the complaints and response mechanism (CARM) and the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, which oversee all phases of the program. The team reviewed the projects implemented by the Council in Latakia in response to the earthquake that hit the province on February 6 last year, along with the new programs currently being carried out in Latakia.
At the end of the visit, the ACT Alliance team praised the efforts of MECC in supporting the affected communities in Syria and confirmed the continuation of the partnership between the two organizations to secure the basic needs of the affected people through projects that create sustainable impacts, bring hope to poor families, and contribute to rebuilding lives in Syria.
