Damascus, Aug. 15 (SANA)Clearing rubble left by the war caused by the defunct regime inSyriais a key step toward reopening roads, restoring services and livelihoods, and helping communities return to normal life, a crisis-preparedness specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

Joelle-Seme Parkmade the remarks following a recent visit to Syria to review recovery projects, according to observations published by the UN News Centre on Saturday.

“Local communities are clearing rubble and rebuilding neighborhoods and livelihoods destroyed by more than a decade of war,” Park said.

She said the war killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and caused extensive infrastructure damage across the country, with the cost estimated at more than $100 billion.

Describing a visit to a neighborhood inDamascus Countryside, Park said piles of broken concrete and twisted metal block much of the area, while roads remain closed. Water and sewage networks cannot be repaired, electricity and other essential services face major difficulties resuming operations, and entire communities remain isolated.

Rubble-removal efforts are continuing but require equipment, planning, coordination and sustained support, she said.

Park said UNDP and its partners are helping communities take initial steps toward recovery through theRevive project.

The project is removing 570,000 tons of rubble inAleppo, Deir Ezzor, Homs and Damascus Countryside, while rehabilitating roads and water and sanitation networks, raising awareness of unexploded ordnance risks, and supporting initiatives to recycle debris and turn rubble into construction materials.

Restoring movement and providing jobs

Park said life begins to return once rubble is removed, movement resumes, access is restored and families begin returning to their homes.

The work also provides income that many families urgently need. More than 1,300 people have participated in cash-for-work activities linked to rubble removal, helping support more than 6,000 family members.

Park quoted a woman working at a debris-recycling facility in Aleppo as saying that she had no income to support her family before the project but is now able to provide food and medicine for her children and her nieces and nephews. She said all family members had returned to school.

Park said the work also gives residents a sense of pride in helping revive their neighborhoods, reopen streets and see tangible progress in areas that suffered prolonged destruction and disruption.

She added that a community volunteer in Aleppo told her local residents volunteered, after the rubble was removed, to rebuild a park and install street lighting, allowing children and women to enjoy the area after school in an atmosphere of safety and tranquility.

What struck her most, Park said, was not only the scale of the work but the determination of local communities, noting that residents had removed rubble from their homes with their bare hands.

Park concluded that rubble removal is not limited to clearing the remains of destruction but also involves reopening roads, restoring services, supporting livelihoods and helping communities regain a normal way of life.

Many areas and municipalities across Syria have launched initiatives and campaigns since liberation to remove rubble and remnants of the war caused by the defunct regime, in cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management and its provincial directorates, as well as local councils. The efforts form part of broader recovery and reconstruction work aimed at improving services and the general appearance of the areas.