Syria - IOM has organized a second Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) training for collective centre managers working for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Syria.

The training is designed to support UNRWA shelter managers and field staff to deliver services in 38 collective shelters across Syria, housing 13,000 Palestine refugees and Syrians displaced by conflict.

Despite a week-long snow storm pounding Syria and other countries in the region, the three-day training was held in UNRWA’s Damascus Training Center on the 5^th - 10th of January and attended by 13 UNRWA staff.

The course aimed to enhance the technical capacity of UNRWA collective shelter staff and local committee members to deliver essential services. It also provided training in international protection principles, approaches and standards.

 “The protracted nature of the crisis here has had a particularly severe effect on Palestine refugees and Syrians displaced by armed conflict. Over-crowding in collective centres and limited resources create a challenging environment for shelter managers and humanitarian workers,” said IOM CCCM Trainer/Humanitarian Affairs Officer Lina Koussa.

 “The CCCM trainings provide solutions to day-to-day challenges faced by managers in the shelters, both to enhance services and to improve living conditions,” she added.

 As Syria approaches its fifth year of crisis, approximately 7.6 million people have been internally displaced. Most are now living in host communities, public shelters, unofficial settlements and makeshift shelters. Organized and coordinated humanitarian assistance is vital to ensure that these acute shelter needs are addressed effectively.

IOM has conducted two trainings to date for a total of 33 UNRWA staff. Since 2012, IOM has conducted trainings on shelter management/CCCM for a total of 239 shelter manager and humanitarian workers from the UN and local NGOs.

It plans to deliver several more training courses on CCCM for collective centers inside Syria hosting Syrian IDPs, prioritizing shelters with the worst living conditions.

IOM Syria’s shelter management/CCCM trainings are funded by UNRWA, ECHO, Kuwait, Germany and UNOCHA’s CERF and ERF funds.

 For more information, please contact 

Shihab Alkairawan

IOM Syria

Tel.: + 963 992 299 330

Email: salkairawan@iom.int