In 2016, the Ead Samawi Foundation supported the ICRC’s Economic Security Programme in the Syrian Arab Republic, providing critical assistance as the country faced a severe humanitarian crisis. Against this backdrop, the ICRC worked tirelessly to address urgent humanitarian needs, ensuring that vulnerable communities had access to food, healthcare, and essential services. Due to its neutral, impartial, and independent mandate, the ICRC had access to hard-to-reach areas and communities most affected by the conflict, allowing it to provide assistance where other organizations faced restrictions. The Foundation’s support helped the ICRC expand its emergency response, increasing distributions of food assistance and essential household items to families struggling to survive amid conflict. In 2016, 13 million bread packs were distributed to over 200,000 people in Aleppo, Damascus, Deir Ezzor, Homs and Rural Damascus and 10 million people received food. Additionally, 2,1 million people received hygiene kits, towels, mattresses, blankets and other household items. At the same time, the ICRC provided life-saving medical assistance, delivering essential medicines to health facilities, and ensuring hospitals and specialized treatment centers could continue functioning despite resource shortages. A total of 1,4 million sick or wounded people received health care. Beyond emergency relief, the ICRC also focused on restoring access to clean water, a fundamental necessity for both daily survival and public health. The organization implemented projects to rehabilitate water infrastructure, ensuring that communities had safe drinking water and that farmers could irrigate their crops – helping to prevent further food insecurity. At the end of 2016, 15 million people benefited from the ICRC’s water and engineering projects. This work was reinforced by capacity-building support for water authorities, ensuring the long-term sustainability of these efforts. – Majed Samawi