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A decade of war in Syria: a ten-year humanitarian emergency
March 24, 20216:00 p.m.
ONLINE
Casa Árabe’s YouTube channel. 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
In Spanish.
On Wednesday, March 24, we will be showing this conference on our YouTube channel, with the cooperation of Doctors Without Borders, to mark the ten-years time span that has elapsed since the beginning of armed conflict in Syria.
Since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011, the lives of its inhabitants have been under threat. Twelve million Syrians (half of the population) have been forced to flee the conflict and leave their homes, often several times, making this the largest crisis involving population displacement in this century. Many of these people remain displaced to this day.
Throughout this decade, Doctors Without Borders has provided support to people in need in different regions within the country: donating medical supplies, setting up hospitals and clinics, and providing remote support for medical facilities and medical staff networks in areas where direct access is impossible for aid agencies. Doctors Without Borders is currently supporting the Syrian people both inside Syria and in several neighboring countries which host refugees.
On March 24, Casa Árabe and Doctors Without Borders have arranged a talk to hear the experience and testimony of specialists in humanitarian aid in Syria and to show the effects of a ten-year conflict on the health of a civilian population that has been persecuted, besieged, bombed and, in short, abandoned to its fate. Teresa Sancristóbal, Director of Operations, and Martín Sosa, a surgeon and Doctors Without Borders surgery advisor, will also be participating. Presented by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.
Teresa Sancristóval
Director of Operations at Doctors Without Borders. Ms. Sancristóval studied Economic Management and Marketing and completed a graduate degree in Humanitarian Aid, with a diploma in mental health during situations of political violence and disasters. She began working in the humanitarian sector in 1991, with several NGOs.
Her relationship with Doctors Without Borders began in 2001, and she has worked in Yemen, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, as well as other locations. She has been responsible for operations in Colombia, India, Nigeria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe. She has also headed the emergencies team since 2012, with a special focus on projects in Syria. Since 2018, she has been the Director of Operations.
Martin Sosa
Surgery Advisor for Doctors Without Borders. Born in San Luis, Argentina in 1981, he grew up and studied in Córdoba, Argentina, where he also completed his degree in Medicine and graduate studies in General Surgery. His grandfather, father and two of his four siblings are also doctors. When he was in high school, he met a doctor who was working at Doctors Without Borders and grew fascinated with her stories of work in the field.
His earliest experience in the humanitarian world was in Haiti in 2010, when he worked as a surgeon and head of rescue and medical evacuation at the mobile Argentine Air Force Hospital (in Port-au-Prince) for the United Nations Humanitarian mission MINUSTAH. In 2011, he began working with Doctors Without Borders Spain (and its various sections) as an on-site surgeon in several countries (Yemen, South Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, DRC, CAR, Cameroon) and in 2017 as a Surgery Advisor. Of the 14 missions he carried out before taking up his position at Headquarters, Syria was his favorite, and one of the most relevant to the organization.