Elaf for Relief & Development

Elaf for Relief and Development (Elaf RD) is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 2014 by 14 community-based groups in Syria to address urgent humanitarian needs caused by the conflict. Registered in Turkey in 2015 to facilitate cross-border aid and partnerships, Elaf RD expanded its reach by obtaining official registration in Syria in 2025, enhancing its ability to deliver humanitarian and development programs nationwide.

Together for Hope

Working hand in hand to reach the most vulnerable with care, dignity, and lasting impact.

Our Focus and Impact

Elaf RD is driven by a mission to uphold the dignity, rights, and resilience of crisis-affected individuals, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable populations. These include women, children, persons with disabilities (PWDs), refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The organization recognizes that these groups often face multiple, overlapping risks that require targeted, compassionate, and context-specific responses.
Elaf RD designs and delivers integrated programs that prioritize protection, inclusion, and empowerment, aiming not only to address immediate humanitarian needs but also to lay the foundation for long-term recovery. Through education, livelihoods support, mental health and psychosocial services, and community engagement, the organization works to create safe, enabling environments where individuals and families can regain stability and hope.
By strengthening local capacities and fostering community-driven solutions, Elaf RD ensures its efforts are both effective and sustainable, contributing to a broader vision of resilience, self-reliance, and social cohesion in conflict-affected areas.

Our Approach

Elaf RD is rooted in the interconnectedness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus, adopting a double nexus approach to effectively bridge emergency relief with long-term development. This integrated framework allows the organization to respond to crises with agility while laying the groundwork for stability and resilience in affected communities.
This strategy enables us to implement inclusive, people-centered interventions that address both immediate needs and support sustainable recovery. By aligning short-term humanitarian responses with long-term development objectives, Elaf RD ensures that its programs contribute to lasting impact rather than temporary solutions. We work hand-in-hand with local actors to reinforce systems, promote social cohesion, and enhance community ownership, which are essential for building a more just and resilient future.

Together for Better Lives

Building strong, healthy communities through care, trust, and sustainable solutions.

Support, Restore, Resilience

We are committed to extending a helping hand to vulnerable communities and leaving no one behind, even in the most hard-to-reach areas, through providing effective humanitarian solutions, restoring vital services, and strengthening social resilience.

Advocate, Coordinate, Collaborate

Deliver critical emergency assistance like food, shelter, water, sanitation, and education to alleviate immediate suffering in communities impacted by human-made disasters and natural hazards, with a focus on the most vulnerable individuals and families Deliver critical emergency assistance like food, shelter, water, sanitation.

Principles, Values, Commitment

We operate with unwavering adherence to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, guided by the following core values. These principles serve as the ethical foundation for all our actions, ensuring that our assistance reaches those most in need without discrimination or bias: 

  • Impactful: Delivering meaningful, lasting change to vulnerable communities.
  • Resilient: Adapting and continuing operations in crisis-affected areas.
  • Inclusive: Ensuring the participation and empowerment of marginalized groups.
  • Innovative: Developing creative, context-specific solutions for humanitarian and development challenges.
  • Sustainable: Promoting long-term, community-led development and self-reliance.
  • Accountable: Upholding transparency, integrity, and responsibility in all our operations.

Our Values

We operate with unwavering adherence to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, guided by the following core values. These principles serve as the ethical foundation for all our actions, ensuring that our assistance reaches those most in need without discrimination or bias:

Impactful

We deliver lasting, meaningful change for vulnerable people.

Resilient

We adapt and keep working in areas hit by crises.

Inclusive

We enable marginalized groups to take part and grow.

Innovative

We create tailored, practical solutions for each need.

Sustainable

We foster long-term, community-led growth and strength.

Accountable

We act with integrity, honesty, and clear responsibility