Displaced since 2015, for Ibrahim Alahmad, Humanitarian Programme Officer with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs​ (OCHA) in Gaziantep, working for the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund is more than a job.

Tell us about yourself.

I am originally from Manbij, near Aleppo. In 2013, I began working on education projects with the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Unfortunately, when ISIS took control in 2014, they imprisoned humanitarian workers, accusing us of being spies. I spent five months in jail before I was finally released.

To protect my family, we decided to flee together to Türkiye, where I worked with various NGOs. In 2021, I joined OCHA’s Humanitarian Financing Unit in Gaziantep. 

I dearly love my city. If I think about all the things I had to leave behind, my heart aches.

Being away from loved ones is never easy, and sometimes I can’t help but feel lonely in a country that is not my own.

Have you been able to go back since the war started?

After the city came under SDF’s control in 2021, I was able to go back a few times. In Türkiye, local authorities facilitated visits for Syrian refugees by providing temporary protection cards that allowed us to visit for one or two weeks.

It was a huge relief after four years apart, unable to see my parents and other siblings, especially since between 2016 and 2021, my wife and I had two more children in Türkiye.

Up until then, my parents had only been able to see them in photos or during video calls. 

Your work with the SCHF brought you closer to home.

It did, especially because as part of my role, I review project proposals to help enhance the quality of each submission. Seeing firsthand the impact of these projects on people and communities is fulfilling.

In Manbij, where the situation has significantly deteriorated since 8 December last year, a $3.8M allocation has brought essential supplies to so many people struggling with the basics from water to medical supplies and infrastructure.

This is where my motivation comes from, knowing that I am contributing to support the humanitarian response in Syria, even in small ways.

Visiting refugee camps in northwest Syria, where 2.5 million people currently live, helps me reflect on both my situation and the lives of those we serve, who are also my people.

But "building back better" has been my mantra, and I will continue to do everything I can to work towards this goal.