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Supporting shelter self-recovery is a modality of humanitarian aid which remains ill-defined and misunderstood despite the many aid organizations that utilize this approach. Of the little existing knowledge and best practices regarding self-recovery support methods, most has been developed for natural disaster contexts, and not post-conflict. Post-conflict situations are much more complex than disasters due to a multitude of economic, social, and other factors. Further research is greatly needed to support self-recovery programs in post-conflict situations, especially due to the complexities involved. This research aims to highlight the unique complexities of post-conflict support to self-recovery and to identify ways of improving this support. This is done through a combination of a literature review and a case study of self-recovery support methods currently being employed in Syria. The results include a framework which identifies and categorizes common factors, barriers, and facilitators which influence the implementation of self-recovery support projects. The results also include a list of recommendations to improve these projects for stakeholders involved. Based on an analysis of these recommendations, five Key Areas for Action are discussed which are as follows: maximizing implementing organizations' capacities, contextualizing risks, increasing adaptable and flexible programming, addressing the social dimension, and improving international coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration emerges as a human phenomenon and it is felt in every period of life. This concept brings to mind the conceptual status of refugees and asylum seekers. As the crisis in Syria has become severe, the people living there have had flee their country and become refugees in other countries. Turkey regarding this issue opted for an 'open door policy' opens the doors to Syrian refugees by establishing shelter centers, housing, nutrition, health, provide all kinds of support on issues such as security to the needy in several provinces. In the study, when the Syrian refugees are examined in terms of the country they visited, their rights and freedoms, the way of adaptation in terms of culture and language, sociocultural and psychological status, the importance of these such factors will be taken in to account. In order for it a perfect example, information will be given on the logistics processes and the humanitarian aid organization will be discussed in light of the question of how Turkish Red Crescent manages the humanitarian logistics operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite healthcare facilities being deemed untouchable in times of conflict, the war in Syria has seen its government as well as opposition forces, target their people and infrastructure as a strategy of war. Violations of medical neutrality and International Humanitarian Law has led to the loss of countless medical personnel, civilians and health care facilities; setting the country back to health levels last seen thirty years ago. It is evident through the strategy of the Syrian and Russian government that healthcare facilities are being deliberately targeted with humanitarian organisations condemning all parties involved for violating the Geneva Conventions. The report examines the impact of the conflict in Syria on its health facilities and looks at the reasons why these services are under attack and the international response to the conflict. The report concludes by looking into plans currently implemented to protect our healthcare infrastructure during times of war whilst comparing it to past strategies. Methods: A literature review was conducted for the study with information and data collected through several search engines including Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, OVID and searches through Google. The keywords mapped to find relevant literature includes "Syria", "healthcare", "health care worker", "humanitarian aid", and "volunteer", "International Humanitarian Law", "Geneva Convention". The majority of the data used was adapted from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Limitations included using sources written in English due to limited resources to translate literature in Arabic. Results: The conflict in Syria and deliberate targeting of healthcare facilities has left services decimated with an estimated 782 medical personnel killed during this time; doctors accounting for 32% of total deaths in the five years. Several facilities are also operating at 1% or less functionality. Conclusion: The results and review highlight the need for protection of health facilities from humanitarian violations as health care continues to be targeted as a strategy of war. The number of attacks has steadily remained constant throughout the years and nothing seems to be done in bringing perpetrators to justice for violations of International Humanitarian Law. The paper calls for more public attention to shed light on the atrocities being committed and further inquiries like the preliminary carried out by The Lancet – American University of Beirut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Istanbul Commerce University Journal of Social Sciences / İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Istanbul Commerce University Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After the Syrian refugee influx in Turkey, the aspect of civil society in integration needs further clarification and categorization. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop a general typology of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are active in immigration and immigration-related areas (NGO-R; non-governmental organizations—refugees). Our findings show that NGO-Rs play crucial roles in helping the refugees to access the rights provided by state, in integrating them into society at the local level by creating new social spaces and in sending humanitarian aid to the people of concern in Syria. Additionally, we claim that the refugee crisis facilitated the opportunities both for active citizenship as demanded and for new mobilization to manage the humanitarian and integration assistance towards the Syrians. Lastly, our fieldwork shows that religious and belief motives are the main factors playing a large part in the creation and maintenance of the NGO-R activities and refugee community organizations (RCOs) can have a distinctive integrative function by preferring to stay outside the mainstream channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• International humanitarians rely on local actors to deliver aid, but they do not localize by shifting authority over response to local actors. • A power framework proposes that institutional processes for localizing aid reproduce, rather than neutralize, international power. • Interpretive analysis of the Syria War reveals that impressive participation of Syrians in aid delivery was not matched by shifts in authority. • International aid can "go local" by using the labor, risk tolerance, access, and knowledge of local actors while maintaining their subordination. International aid organizations and donors have committed to localize aid by empowering local actors to deliver and lead in humanitarian response. While international actors do often rely on local actors for aid delivery, their progress on shifting authority falls short. Scholars suggest that while localizing aid may be desirable, the organizational imperatives of international actors and aid's colonial past and present make it difficult at best. Can localization efforts produce locally led humanitarian response? Adopting a power framework, we argue that localization reinforces and reproduces international power; through institutional processes, localization efforts by international actors allocate capacity to, and constitute local actors as, humanitarians that are more or less capable, funded, and involved in responding to crises in the latter's own countries. This article interprets aid efforts during the Syria War. In this crucial case, we might expect localization to be "easy" due to the dependence of international actors on local actors because of security concerns and constraints on international access. We draw on fine-grained qualitative data collected through immersive observation and 250 interviews with Syrian and international aid workers in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as descriptive analysis of quantitative data. We reveal the ways Syrians were constituted as frontline responders, recipients of funds or trainings, risk-takers, gateways to access, and tokenistic representatives of the crisis. Our research shows that while the response seemed to "go local" by relying on the labor and risk-taking of Syrians to implement relief, it did not transfer authority to Syrian actors. Findings contribute to current debates in global development and humanitarian scholarship about who holds power within the global aid architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of International Affairs (04866096) is the property of Institute of International Politics & Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Uludağ Journal of Economy & Society / Uludağ Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Uludag Journal of Economy & Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The Syrian armed conflict is the worst humanitarian tragedy this century. With approximately 470,000 deaths and more than 13 million people displaced, the conflict continues to have a devastating impact on the health system and health outcomes within the country. Hundreds of international and national non-governmental organisations, as well as United Nations agencies have responded to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. While there has been significant attention on the challenges of meeting health needs of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, very little has been documented about the humanitarian challenges within Syria, between 2013 and 2014 when non-governmental organisations operated in Syria with very little United Nations support or leadership, particularly around obtaining information to guide health responses in Syria. Methods: In this study, we draw on our operational experience in Syria and analyse data collected for the humanitarian health response in contested and opposition-held areas of Syria in 2013-;4 from Turkey, where the largest humanitarian operation for Syria was based. This is combined with academic literature and material from open-access reports. Results: Humanitarian needs have consistently been most acute in contested and opposition-held areas of Syria due to break-down of Government of Syria services and intense warfare. Humanitarian organisations had to establish de novo data collection systems independent of the Government of Syria to provide essential services in opposition-held and contested areas of Syria. The use of technology such as social media was vital to facilitating remote data collection in Syria as many humanitarian agencies operated with a limited operational visibility given chronic levels of insecurity. Mortality data have been highly politicized and extremely difficult to verify, particularly in areas highly affected by the conflict, with shifting frontlines, populations, and allegiances. Conclusions: More investment in data collection and use, technological investment in the use of M- and E-health, capacity building and strong technical and independent leadership should be a key priority for the humanitarian health response in Syria and other emergencies. Much more attention should be also given for the treatment gap for non-communicable diseases including mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate about the legality of cross-border relief operations has been revived in the wake of the failures experienced by international humanitarian organizations in their response to humanitarian needs in Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

El artículo discurre sobre la violencia de género contra las mujeres sirias refugiadas en Líbano. La autora comenta sobre la guerra civil en Siria y las instancias del abuso sexual contra mujeres inmigrantes. También se describen los esfuerzos de las organizaciones humanitarias para abordar los casos de discriminación y violencia, así como asegurar la protección de las mujeres refugiadas.

The article focuses on the legal aspects of the conundrum of consent and humanitarian assistance. It discusses the validity of ther requirement of state consent on the provision of humanitarian assistance from outside sources particularly in the case of Syria. It also mentions the attributes of witholding consent particularly on the basis of controls and the problems thereof.

This article explores the implications of the Iraqi refugee crisis for Syria, which is believed to host up to 1.5 million Iraqi refugees. Many policy makers, activists and analysts, sometimes inspired by the conflict repercussions of refugee crises witnessed elsewhere, have warned against the regional security impact of the Iraqi exodus and consequently speculated about a possible spillover of the armed conflicts in Iraq to its neighbours. The article presents an analysis of the characteristics and composition of the Iraqi refugee population and provides an assessment of responses to the refugee crisis in Syria. Its main finding is that fears for a spillover of Iraq's violence cannot be corroborated. The relative absence of refugee violence can be explained in reference to Iraqi refugees themselves. Given their specific demographic and social traits (including age composition, educational levels and professions, and to some extent religious affiliation), in addition to refugees' sectarian segregation, an overwhelming majority of Iraqi refugees are and remain victims of the violence in Iraq; they are unlikely to become its perpetrators abroad. In this sense the Iraqi refugee crisis constitutes a strong reminder that, in order to assess the propensity of violence among refugees and their purportedly contagious impact on their places of refuge, an understanding of the causes of their flight and their roles in the conflict they are fleeing is essential. It is finally argued that security challenges are likely to come from a different source. Socioeconomic destitution among refugees and the failure to provide adequate humanitarian assistance and protection are and will be causing tensions between them and the host state and host communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proof-of-concept study for HFW system in conflict zones. • Multi-objectives model with the consideration of humanitarian principles. • Epsilon-constraint method is used to address conflicting objectives. • The model is applied to the case study based on northeast Syria. • Comparative analysis between HFW system and ground-based UAVs system. Delivering commodities by ground vehicles to people in conflict zones risks the safety of humanitarian aid workers. Hundreds of aid workers are killed, injured, or kidnapped when delivering supplies on the road each year. We propose the humanitarian flying warehouse (HFW) as a solution to these issues. The HFW is an airship that stays at high altitudes and uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to deliver supplies. This innovation will enable safe and timely delivery to hard-to-reach populations in a manner that significantly exceeds the capacity of current practices. Crucially, the HFW eliminates the motivations behind many delivery disruptions. These disruptions are caused by asymmetric commons dilemmas: entities with different accessibility and power race to grab shared relief goods before others. The problem we address is the operation of HFW to make safe and timely delivery of critical items such as health supplies to the hard to reach populations. This study constitutes proof of concept for the HFW system in conflict zones through a multi-objective mathematical model. The validity of the system is verified via comparative analysis with a ground-based system in a realistic case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Syria crisis has forced more than 4 million people to leave their homeland. As a result, in 2016, an overwhelming number of refugees reached Germany. In response to this, it was of utmost importance to set up refugee camps and to provide humanitarian aid, but a health surveillance system was also implemented in order to obtain rapid information about emerging diseases. Objective: The present study describes the effects of using digital paper and pen (DPP) technology on the speed, sequence, and behavior of epidemiological documentation in a refugee camp. Methods: DPP technology was used to examine documentation speed, sequence, and behavior. The data log of the digital pens used to fill in the documentation was analyzed, and each pen stroke in a field was recorded using a timestamp. Documentation time was the difference between first and last stroke on the paper, which includes clinical examination and translation. Results: For three months, 495 data sets were recorded. After corrections had been made, 421 data sets were considered valid and subjected to further analysis. The median documentation time was 41:41 min (interquartile range 29:54 min; mean 45:02 min; SD 22:28 min). The documentation of vital signs ended up having the strongest effect on the overall time of documentation. Furthermore, filling in the free-text field clinical findings or therapy or measures required the most time (mean 16:49 min; SD 20:32 min). Analysis of the documentation sequence revealed that the final step of coding the diagnosis was a time-consuming step that took place once the form had been completed. Conclusions: We concluded that medical documentation using DPP technology leads to both an increase in documentation speed and data quality through the compliance of the data recorders who regard the tool to be convenient in everyday routine. Further analysis of more data sets will allow optimization of the documentation form used. Thus, DPP technology is an effective tool for the medical documentation process in refugee camps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of challenges that staff members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have encountered when attempting to provide humanitarian assistance to large numbers of Iraqi citizens that have fled Iraq since 2006 and have relocated to urban locations in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. A discussion of a lack of asylum legislation and policies which exist in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria is presented. Methods which members of UNHCR used to gain access to and provide assistance to internally displaced people in all three locations are discussed.

As the coalition forces dropped the first bombs in the 2003 Iraqi War, aid agencies and United Nations (UN) teams were working around the clock in bordering countries to prepare for a predicted influx of refugees. Although estimates of the size of the likely population movements vary widely, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Activities estimates that as the war escalates between 600,000 and 1.1 million people may flee the country to neighboring Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The UN also warned of a potential humanitarian crisis in Iraq's second city, Basra. Secretary general Kofi Annan called for urgent measures to help the 1.5 million residents of Basra who were facing the threat of disease from a lack of clean water. A UN official in Amman, Jordan, said many people were now taking water from the Shatt-al-Arab river where sewage was dumped, with the result that diarrhea was likely and children were seriously at risk.