Photo essay

UNICEF reached families left Rukban camp to rural Homs with essential health and nutrition.

Thanks to contributions from Japan, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). UNICEF reached families despite COVID-19 challenges.

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  • UNICEF reached families left Rukban camp to rural Homs with essential health and nutrition.
    • 14 December 2020

    Since 2019, thousands of people have been leaving Rukban, a remote desert camp by the Syrian Jordanian border, towards temporary settlements in Homs and its rural areas, hoping to return to their war-ravaged places of origin. Mallaha village, eastern rural Homs, is one of the locations where some 600 people have taken refuge in tents under basic conditions.

    woman carrying a child while two woman measuring with MUAC tape
    UNICEF/Syria/2020/Lina Alqassab
    Salam, 18 months, gets her mid-upper arm circumference measured as part of her malnutrition screening provided by a UNICEF-supported mobile team volunteer in Mallaha village, eastern rural Homs. Salam’s family fled the conflict in Adra, rural Damascus, five years ago.
    female health worker talking to woman carrying baby
    UNICEF/Syria/2020/Lina Alqassab
    Huda, 29, receives counselling on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) best practices from a UNICEF-supported mobile team volunteer in Mallaha village, eastern rural Homs. “I hope she will have a better life and be able to grow up in our home in Palmyra,” says Huda while holding her 10-day old daughter Ruwaida. After years of taking refuge in Rukban camp, Huda and her family left the camp last year for Mallaha, eastern rural Homs, a temporary station until they can return to their hometown. In addition to counseling, Huda received vitamins and medication for her daughter’s runny nose.
    female health worker talking to woman carrying a baby
    UNICEF/Syria/2020/Lina Alqassab
    Ayat, 9 months, who is underweight, receives nutritional supplements from a UNICEF-supported mobile team volunteer in Mallaha village, eastern rural Homs, as part of malnutrition preventive measures.
    female doctor checking little girl in a clinic
    UNICEF/Syria/2020/Lina Alqassab
    Khadija, 5, gets her medical checkup from by UNICEF-supported mobile team volunteer in Mallaha village, eastern rural Homs. She was given a medicine to treat her intestinal worm infection.
    Female health worker talking to woman
    UNICEF/Syria/2020/Lina Alqassab
    “I’d like to name my baby Ali,” says Rahaf, 18, who is newly married and pregnant, while receiving nutrition advice and treatment for malnutrition from a UNICEF-supported mobile team volunteer in Mallaha, eastern rural Homs. “I came here from Rukban last year after years of living in poverty and hunger,” she adds. After being diagnosed with acute malnutrition, Rahaf has been receiving her treatment with support from health mobile teams visiting Mallaha

    With thanks to generous contributions from Japan, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), UNICEF has been reaching displaced children and their families in Mallaha with essential health and nutrition, continuing its support despite COVID-19 challenges. Ten UNICEF-supported mobile teams are providing medical checks, medicines, malnutrition screenings and nutritional supplements to children and women. Through its health mobile teams, UNICEF is also raising the awareness of pregnant and lactating women with counselling on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) best practices.

    Related topics

    Children of Syria
    Syria crisis
    Internal displacement
    Health
    Nutrition
    Health supplies
    Maternal health
    Newborn health
    Infant and young child nutrition
    Malnutrition
    Syrian Arab Republic

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