Challenges continue after war ends, says Syrian priest and peacemaker Alexi Chehadeh
Chehadeh leads the largest local NGO in Syria, serving 2.5 million people a year.
With the fighting having ended in many areas in Syria, said Orthodox priest and peacemaker Alexi Chehadeh of Damascus, aid organizations such as the one he leads face the challenge of helping people rebuild their lives.
“People in liberated and hard-to-reach areas are in huge need of humanitarian support,” he said while visiting the United Kingdom in mid-December for an ecumenical conference on human rights and the Middle East. “They need basic services, livelihood support, and medical services, to say the least, in order to be able to remain in their local communities.”
Chehadeh heads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East—the largest independent local nongovernmental organization operating inside Syria, serving 2.5 million people a year.
