ROTA announces partnership with The Syria Trust

Since the Iraqi war of 2003, the influx of about 1.5 million Iraqi citizens into Syria has resulted in the intensifying need to secure the social, economic, educational, and medical needs of these refugees.

A majority of Iraqi children do not have access to formal education, non-formal education, vocational training and ICT basics.

ROTA and the Syria Trust propose the launch of an initiative focusing on children's education.

The initiative's overall Strategic objective is to encourage Iraqi and Syrian youth to develop their skills that mark out successful and empowered individuals. The main pillars:

1. Increase the number of youth with access to learning opportunities through construction of learning centres;

2. Educate and raise awareness among youth, parents, teachers and community members regarding new cultural and social dynamics. Awareness activities will also focus on the students' well being and essential hygienic practices. These will be tackled through volunteers' intervention inside schools, distribution of hygienic kits as well as the renovation of the school external lavatories;

3. Enhance capacity of the community by:
a. Developing programs to provide Iraqi and Syrian youth with technical as well as key skills in entrepreneurship, research, reasoning with and organising information, teamwork, communication, planning tasks, implementing projects, conducting plays and leading logical debates.
b. Providing teachers with access to professional development training.

Omnia Nour, Director of ROTA, said: "We are pleased to be collaborating with The Syria Trust on this project and will endeavour to support the Iraqi refugees to overcome the current obstacles they face in the field of education. The projects outlined in partnership with The Syria Trust will ensure the improvement of their educational services and provide easy access and quality education to young Iraqi refugees - as well as young Syrians between the ages of 6 and 24."

She added: "The implementation of these projects will allow youth to acquire technical skills necessary for their growth and development. Teachers, parents and other community members will also benefit from our projects."

In this first phase, the proposed pilot project will be run in two areas (Siyadda Zeinab and Jaramana) for the fiscal year July 2008 - June 2009.

The pilot program will be divided into two phases:

• Phase I: Construction of two Community Learning Centres (CLC)
• Phase II: Implementation of Business, ICT, socio-cultural programmes and activities


Two learning centres will be constructed in two different locations in rural Damascus. These centres will be host programs initiated by ROTA and the Syria Trust.

Each CLC is a multi-purpose facility that will allocate space for a training hall, computer lab, a reading corner, and an activity room.

The computer lab will be used to teach students how to use information technology in their daily schoolwork, conduct online research, and write academic papers among other things.

It will also enable those student to be part of ROTA's Knowledge Network, to engage with other students across Asia and to share resources and experiences.

The reading corner will engage students creatively by encouraging them to participate in discussions, debates and reading sessions.