Your donations have provided emergency vouchers

Ahmed* and his family were forced to leave their home in Syria and cross the border into Turkey to find safety. Photo: Kevin Carroll/Concern Worldwide. *name changed for security purposes

News1 August 2017Maedhbh McDonald

Thanks to your generous support, we've helped Syrian refugees in Turkey to live with dignity and to rebuild a future for themselves and their children.

Ahmed's* story

Ahmed* lived a peaceful life in Syria with his wife, daughter and two sons. Then the bombs came, and he was forced to take his family to safety. They fled to Turkey, leaving behind everything they knew – their home, friends and jobs.

Thanks to our emergency voucher programme, Ahmed and his family were supported while living in Turkey. Ahmed recieved vouchers worth €17 for each family member per month, so him and his family were able to buy food and other basic necessities. Overall, the programme has benefited almost 37,000 refugees.

Thanks to the support he’s received, Ahmed has started to rebuild a future for his children. And he has a simple message of thanks:

We thank the Irish people who are supporting Syrians. I am wishing we had a normal life and you could come to Syria and I would host you at my house."

Firas helps his mother Mais Ahmadi shop for supplies using the e-vouchers they received from Concern. Photo: Kevin Carroll/Concern Worldwide.

Regaining dignity and independence

The Concern e-voucher programme, supported by ECHO, has provided over 6,000 households in Turkey with monthly financial support. Registered families use the e-vouchers to buy basic food and essentials in local shops. The programme has been a lifeline for families like Ahmed’s.

A Concern e-Voucher along with receipts for purchased food. Photo: Kevin Carroll/Concern Worldwide.

Our e-voucher programme has given Syrian refugees the security they needed to make it through the month. We’ve seen that the majority of families who received e-vouchers are able to meet their basic needs and there’s been a significant reduction in the number of families sending their children to work. The programme also allowed Syrian refugees to regain some of the dignity and independence that has been stolen from them by the ongoing war.

How many people were reached with e-vouchers?

Thanks to your generous support, we have reached over 36,000 individuals with our e-voucher programme. The vouchers were spent on a number of basic essentials including food, hygiene and clothing.