They speak of hope in Syria: Fouad Loufti

Fouad Loufti is a Syrian from Damascus. He is working with Première Urgence Internationale for 10 years now as an Infrastructure and Habitat Coordinator. Upon the 10 year anniversary of the mission in Syria, an event is organised in Paris on Thursday, June 28, 2018 around the topic “What if we talked about hope in Syria?”. Fouad explains to us what this “hope” means to him.

How is the theme of “hope” related to the infrastructure and habitat?

”We can see it from two perspectives. Practically speaking, due to the crisis and the situation on the ground, the response of Première Urgence Internationale was first to build shelters to help the population that stayed to cope with the situation. In 2016, the association decided to also include more long-term projects with more sustainable habitats in its response. Indeed, there is a need to channelize the populations hope and work towards recovery. And the populations in Syria need support to rebuild their communities. Then conceptually, we can consider that Première Urgence Internationale in Syria is building on peoples hope.

What are the main challenges these populations are facing to rebuild their lives?

As in any other conflict, challenges are numerous. First, the situation is still not fully stabilised and there are still ongoing clashes. It obviously negatively affects the capacity for people to come back to their homes. On the other hand, efforts for the early recovery are hindered by the Unilateral Coercive Measures against Syria (Economic sanctions).

Our country needs huge efforts and huge contributions from all parties and stakeholders to provide the required support to the population, in order to rebuild their lives again.

What do you personally hope for?

I am 38 years old and I have a wife and a 1-year-old son. Even if today each family in Syria has a sad story related to the crisis to tell, I decided to stay in Damascus and support my people. I hope that my son will have the same opportunities as I had.

Today, even if the future is not totally clear I work hard for my people, to give more and to alleviate the suffering of others. I do believe that the future of our children must be decided by us, and I hope that soon we will all have a peaceful and prosperous life, even if it takes years.

I was and I am still optimistic.”