Restorative, Essential, and Comprehensive assistance for Vulnerable populations to Enhance Resiliency (RECOVER) First Quarterly Report October 1 – December 31, 2016 Funded by USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Country Contact Headquarters Contact Program Summary: Award Number: AID- OFDA-A-16-00050 Start Date: October 1, 2016 End Date: September 30, 2017 Report Date: January 30, 2017 Total New Award: $ 25,627,997 Mercy Corps – North Syria Quarter 1: AID- OFDA-A-16-00050 1 ABBREVIATIONS AOG – Armed Opposition Group BCP – Border Crossing Point GoS – Government of Syria IDP – Internally Displaced Person IED – Improvised Explosive Device INGO – International Non-Governmental Organization ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (also known as ISIL/IS) LC – Local Council M&E – Monitoring and Evaluation NFI – Non-Food Item NGO – Non-Governmental Organization OFDA – Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance PDM – Post Distribution Monitoring PSS – Psychosocial Support RuAF – Russian Air Force RVD - Registration, Verification, and Distribution TRC – Turkish Red Crescent YPG – People’s Protection Unit (A Kurdish armed group) Mercy Corps – North Syria Quarter 1: AID- OFDA-A-16-00050 2 I. Program Overview Mercy Corps has been implementing cross border programming from Turkey to northern Syria since 2012, providing multi-sector, lifesaving and holistic assistance (NFIs, WASH, Protection, Shelter, Food Security and Livelihoods) to over 3.9 million individuals. Through the Restorative, Essential, and Comprehensive Assistance to Vulnerable Populations to Enhance Resiliency (RECOVER) Program, Mercy Corps aims to reach an estimated 40,110 unique IDP and host community households (240,660 individuals1) in Aleppo (including Kobani), Idleb and Hama Governorates over the 12-month program. Mercy Corps believes a multi-sector approach increases the efficiency of aid delivery and supports local communities thereby enabling Mercy Corps to address the basic humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable and newly displaced families in an adaptive manner, while also enhancing the capacity of communities to cope with the stress of war and recover from loss of basic services and income. Goal: To meet immediate humanitarian needs and enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable Syrian communities. Objective 1: Improve access to essential hygiene and non-food item (NFI) materials for 18,550 IDP and host community households 2 (111,300 individuals) affected by the conflict in Syria through distribution of in-kind commodities and vouchers in northern Syria. Objective 2: Increase access to water and sanitation facilities and improve hygiene awareness for conflict affected households in northern Syria, targeting an estimated 20,000 households (120,000 individuals) in Aleppo (excluding Kobani), Idleb and Hama, and an estimated 10,830 households3 (64,980 individuals) in Kobani. Objective 3: Promote psychosocial well-being for conflict affected children and youth through regular facilitation of recreational activities and trainings, targeting 12,129 IDP individuals in Aleppo and Idleb governorates. Objective 4: Improve access to secure and habitable shelter for recently displaced households in northern Syria, targeting 3,160 IDP households (18,960 IDP individuals) in Aleppo and Idleb governorates. Objective 5: Enhancing food security and restoring productive agricultural livelihoods for vulnerable households in northern Syria, targeting 6,000 IDP and host community households (36,000 IDP individuals) in Aleppo and Idleb governorates. Key activities include the provision of in-kind and voucher NFI kits (e.g. new arrival, hygiene, 2- in-1 kits, etc.), distribution of tents, restoration of water and sanitation supply systems, hygiene promotion, psychosocial activities, provision of clean water, and provision of seeds and complementary assistance to restore productive agriculture. As of December 31, 2016, Mercy Corps’ RECOVER team that works in whole or in part in support of these activities consists of 177 field-based staff and 98 Gaziantep-based team members (including programs and operations). 1 Based on a family size of 6. 2 Number of unique beneficiary households based on the number of beneficiaries receiving regular hygiene kits (12,250 HHs over 6 distribution rounds) in addition to beneficiaries receiving the one-off a 2-in-1 hygiene kits (6,300 HHs). 3 includes returnees Mercy Corps – North Syria Quarter 1: AID- OFDA-A-16-00050 3 II. Context The fluid humanitarian situation in North Syria creates a complex environment for the implementation of aid delivery activities from the perspective of both displacement and security. Perhaps most notably during this reporting period, Government of Syria (GoS) and allied forces seized control of the remaining neighborhoods in Eastern Aleppo City (EAC) on December 13, 2016 following months of besiegement. On December 14th, the Turkish and Russian governments brokered a ceasefire deal; evacuations of EAC commenced on December 15, 2016 and continued (with sporadic delays or suspensions) until completion on December 22, 2016. As a result of this evacuation, an estimated 36,086 individuals were evacuated from EAC, of whom many were evacuated to Mercy Corps’ catchment areas - including 9,635 individuals to Atareb and 5,245 to Daret Azza. The CCCM estimates that IDP settlements – including camps, informal settlements and reception centers – have received roughly 22% of new arrivals from the Aleppo evacuations. The remaining 78% of IDPs are being hosted by friends, relatives and families in towns and villages in western and northern rural Aleppo and Idleb. Elsewhere in Mercy Corps’ areas of operation, airstrikes and other clashes continued this reporting period. The Euphrates Shield forces supported with Turkish airstrikes and shelling began to clash with the Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) in Mare’ sub-district. GoS forces launched several airstrikes and barrel bombs in this area forcing the Euphrates Shield forces to withdraw, but paving the way for the Kurdish-backed SDF forces to gain ground. Meanwhile, Turkish and Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield forces continued to clash with ISIS militants and SDF for control of Al-Bab city, an active engagement that is on-going. The armed opposition group (AOG) re-capture of ISIS-held areas in Mare’ Sub-district has opened up accessibility in these areas, which were previously inaccessible to Mercy Corps. This offensive resulted in a high number4 of returnees to Mare’ and the surrounding areas. Likewise, in Idleb, GoS and Government of Russia (GoR) airstrikes targeted several towns throughout Mercy Corps’ catchment areas including; Khan Shaykun, Ma'arrat An Nu'man, Kafr Nobol, Heish, and Ehsem sub-districts. These clashes have resulted in on-going displacements throughout the quarter and, in some cases, have impacted Mercy Corps’ project implementation. Markets and living conditions: Goods continued to move throughout Mercy Corps’ catchment area, though not regularly. Basic goods are mostly coming from Turkey, which were negatively impacted by the high exchange rate, while fuel and carburant are generally being provided through ISIS-SDF- AOG frontlines from eastern (manually refined fuel) and southern (industrially refined fuel) Syria. Prices of heating fuel were reported to go up with the advent of winter and increased demand was seen all over Mercy Corps’ catchment area. Prices of benzene were reported to recover during this quarter. Despite the clashes taking place between AOGs and GoS in Hama Northern Rural, benzene was ranging between 375 SYP in the Southern Rural, 400 SYP in the Western Rural and 500 SYP in the Northern Rural due to the distance from the source. In the same context, an acute shortage of fuel was reported in Aleppo city after being under siege, in which 1 litre of benzene was recorded to cost 5,700 – 6,500 SYP in comparison. One litre of diesel was 1,500 SYP if available. No gas was available. For cooking, the population started to rely on wood (1 kg is 300 SYP) collected from the debris of the building – doors, windows and furniture. Furthermore, basic food commodities were still unavailable in the markets and the commodities available were extremely expensive and unaffordable to a majority of the population. The northern, western and southern countryside of Aleppo Governorate were the main production hubs for vegetables and fresh food. This produce was possible to move to Eastern Aleppo countryside (Al Bab city) and from A`zaz to Jarabulus and then to Menbij, which is under the control of SDF. 4 During this quarter, up to 3,275 families were reported to go back from A`zaz area, Informal Settlements and Border Camps to Jarablus, Kafr Kalbein, Kaljibrin, Suran, Ehteimlat, Aghtrin, Turkmen Bareh, Dabeq, Ekdeh, Kafr Ghan and Dweibeq. Meanwhile, up to 318 families were reported to go back to Mare` coming from A`zaz area and Turkey. Mercy Corps – North Syria Quarter 1: AID- OFDA-A-16-00050 4 In North Syria, frontlines now represent de facto boundaries, which define areas under the control of different groups. This has resulted in a continuous increasing of crossing points where commercial goods are taxed and there are recurring road closures, impacting the prices not only of basic items but also of construction related materials. Moreover, as Karkamish BCP in Jarabulus started to function, vendors preferred to use it to Bab Al-Salama BCP because the taxes imposed are less. Based on market monitoring, which Mercy Corps monitors on a weekly basis, Mercy Corps has noted that currency fluctuations have contributed to price inflation. This is in addition to the varied brands available in the market as well as locally-made products, which have resulted in considerable discrepancies in prices between vendors and shops. The main issue is, when the exchange rate is up, the commodities go up in parallel, whereas when the exchange rate goes down, vendors maintain the same prices as they don`t have trust in the exchange rate and worry that it might go up again. Markets have always been a tactical target for the government, which is one of the main causes of the market system being particularly volatile and fragile.