About International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster.

Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future. Adapting their approach to the changing nature of humanitarian crises, the organization invests in the capacity of IRC country programs to respond to emergencies in locations where they are already present. As part of its health programming, the IRC works to strengthen health systems – including community health systems -- while also providing communities affected by crisis with access to range of essential health services including for child health, sexual and reproductive health, non-communicable diseases, environmental health, nutrition, and mental health and psychosocial support.

International Rescue Committee in action

IRC first began working in Syria in 2012, providing emergency relief and humanitarian aid to those uprooted by war coordinated by teams based in Iraq, Jordan and Syria. In 2019, IRC-supported clinics and mobile health teams treated 612 000 people, providing essential primary health care services including prevention and management of communicable and non-communicable diseases, reproductive health care, mental health and psychosocial support and health education. Over the last several years, the IRC has expanded their response by strengthening partnerships with local and diaspora groups to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medicines, supplies and equipment, and expanding IRC-supported clinics and mobile teams.

The emergence of COVID-19 in Syria in March 2020 further strained health systems in Syria. There are often concerns about community transmission scenarios in high density settings such as camps. Throughout the COVID-19 response, the IRC has continued delivering essential health services and has adapted all health programs to include enhanced infection prevention and control at all IRC-supported health sites and by beginning mental health counseling services using tele-medicine. In Northeast Syria, the IRC supports three ambulances for COVID-19 referrals, four dedicated mobile medical units screening for COVID-19 cases and a network of community healthcare workers for supporting COVID-19 contact tracing.

One of the IRC’s health program strategies is based on a commitment to expanding community outreach activities via mobile medical units and engaging community health workers, which have proven to be particularly effective in the COVID-19 response. IRC mobile medical units - including a doctor, nurse, midwife, pharmacist, psychosocial support worker and a data clerk - allow hard-to-reach populations to access essential care in their own community. These units offer prevention and management of communicable diseases, management of non-communicable diseases, reproductive health services, mental health and psychosocial support, disease surveillance and reporting) and referrals to higher level care. Community health workers go door-to-door to disseminate COVID-19 and other health education messages, provide screening for malnutrition and conduct disease surveillance and reporting in collaboration with mobile medical units operating in the same area. In light of the movement restrictions, community health workers are increasingly using SMS messages to prevent disruptions in services.

IRC also works with partners that are already present and ready to respond to the needs as they arise on the ground, such as Syrian Expatriate Medical Association (SEMA), Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), Independent Doctors Association (IDA), Sustainable International Medical Relief Organization (SIMRO) and the Union of Medical Care & Relief Organization (UOSSM). For example, the IRC worked with SEMA on the establishment of a new isolation hospital, one of only eight functional isolation hospitals in Northwest Syria. After SEMA located and established the hospital – in coordination with the Idleb Health Directorate and the Whole of Syria Health Cluster – the IRC directed funds to support the ongoing operational costs. The IRC also procured ventilators and ICU beds to expand capacity to begin treatment of severe COVID-19 cases. In addition, the IRC supports the Local Health Authority (LHA) to run two COVID-19 treatment in Northeast Syria and provides technical support to COVID-19 isolation centers in Mahmoudli, Areesha and Tel Al Samen camps. Furthermore, the IRC works with WASH actors to support waste management across different camps and facilities.