Aleppo, Sept. 23 (SANA) Aleppo Governorate has launched 119 infrastructure and public service projects worth more than $9.25 million under the “Syria Without Camps” initiative, aimed at improving conditions for the safe and voluntary return of displaced families.
The projects, the first package launched under the initiative, cover water and sanitation, education and health services in Jabal Samaan, Azaz, al-Safira, Deir Hafer and Ain al-Arab in Aleppo countryside.
Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib said the projects would focus on rehabilitating infrastructure and restoring essential services in areas identified as priorities, with resources directed toward communities with the greatest needs.
“The work focuses on rehabilitating infrastructure and basic services and creating suitable conditions for residents to return and settle,” al-Gharib told a press conference at the governorate building on Tuesday.
Zakaria Fahham, director of Aleppo Governorate’s Planning and Statistics Directorate, said the targeted areas were selected largely on the basis of the number of displaced families and their preferred areas of return.
A survey conducted by the governorate in April and May found 59,381 families living in camps, Fahham said. The survey collected information on families’ intentions to return and the communities to which they wished to go.
Fahham said the data would help authorities prioritize rehabilitation work according to residents’ needs and intentions, stressing that the program was designed to create conditions for return rather than compel families to leave camps.
Several projects have already entered the implementation stage, particularly the rehabilitation of schools, with further projects expected to be completed in the coming period, he added.
The package is being implemented under Presidential Decree No. 59 of 2026, issued on March 10, which established a committee headed by the Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management to prepare infrastructure in damaged areas for the return of residents.
The broader “Syria Without Camps” initiative seeks to restore infrastructure and basic services in damaged communities to facilitate safe, voluntary and sustainable returns.
R.D/ABD
