Doha: The regional office of Qatar Charity in Turkey, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has completed a youth vocational training program within the framework of a project involving infrastructure improvement and livelihood enhancement in the camps of internally displaced persons (IDP) in northern Syria.
The project aims to protect the displaced in the camps from winter flooding, by rehabilitating a range of roads that link the refugee camps near the Syrian-Turkish border, maintaining water drainage networks around those roads, strengthening the capabilities of the displaced youth through training, and giving them job opportunities to monitor the maintenance of the rehabilitated roads and networks.
The UNDP implemented the project, in cooperation with several humanitarian organizations, including Qatar Charity, which conducted vocational training and provided job opportunities for the trainees from the camps.
The engineering teams have recently completed the training of 150 young men and 50 young women. The young trainees were divided into 8 groups. Three groups were trained on the road maintenance techniques and works, while the other three groups were trained on water drainage works. The last two groups of young women were trained on administrative activities.
The pieces of trainings included theoretical and practical aspects. In the theoretical part, the errors and problems, which need to be solved and corrected during maintenance work, were presented. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), it was decided to complete this part remotely to ensure the safety of the trainees and promote the concept of social distancing.
However, in the practical part, which lasted for several days, the trainers put the engineering solutions and plans covered in theoretical exercises into practice on the ground.
During the practical training, the trainers took into account all preventive measures such as wearing gloves and masks and using sanitizers to prevent infection and curb the spread of COVID-19, in addition to reducing the number of trainees to a minimum and maintaining social distancing.
Hisham Al-Hussein, 26, one of the trainees on the road maintenance program, said the training provided him with the necessary information on the types of roads such as main roads, secondary roads, and feeder roads, and on how to deal with potholes. Al-Hussein studied two years at the College of Civil Engineering, but he could not complete his studies because of the current situation.
Eng. Khaled Al-Hussein, coordinator of the Water, Sanitation and Early Recovery Department at Qatar Charity’s office in Turkey, said that the trainees would attend a level test, after which 80 young people will get job opportunities for a period of six months, to carry out road and water drainage network maintenance in 15 camps in northern Syria. He also noted that 20 young women would also be selected to contribute to carrying out the administrative tasks of the project.
It is worth noting that Qatar Charity has supervised, during the period 2018-2019, the training of 4,000 people on various occupations and professions, and provided equipment for 1200 trainees to help them launch their small projects later.
The 2020 plan of Qatar Charity aims at training more than 2,500 displaced persons, both male, and female, in northern Syria.
