Providing livelihoods assistance to at-risk earthquake-affected households in Aleppo ltpgtltbrgtFollowing the devastating earthquake on February 6th, 2023, recent analysis estimated that the Syrian economy has declined 5.5%, a decline of 2.3% more than was estimated prior to the earthquake (World Bank Group, March 2023). The same report projects the economic forecast to be poor due to the “anticipated slow reconstruction, weak private investment, and limited humanitarian assistance.” Exacerbating the preexisting household vulnerabilities, the earthquake has further exhausted at-risk households’ resilience and weakened the social protection floor. The proposed project aims to jumpstart the restoration of livelihoods to support longer-term recovery, while still contributing to the scale-up of humanitarian response in areas affected by the earthquake. While humanitarian assistance is urgently required to meet the immediate and basic needs of earthquake-affected households, early recovery assistance is also crucial to support livelihoods and look towards sustainable, long-term solutions to the displacement and protection risks resulting from the recent earthquake. Through this intervention, DRC will support men and women whose businesses have been affected by the earthquake in Aleppo to either rehabilitate their businesses from damage sustained due to the earthquake (this may include asset replacement, relocation of premises, etc.) or development/scale-up of businesses that provide essential services that are currently lacking in the target earthquake-affected communities, including food related services. DRC will target businesses by assessing damage and loss of assets. There are 453 buildings in East Aleppo that either collapsed or are in the process of being demolished (Aleppo Operation Room, April 2023). Many of those buildings contained businesses operating from the ground floor. Closure of these businesses has a devastating effect on families who were already at risk, as well as on the local market. In coordination with the Chamber of Industry, DRC will identify and assess these businesses,  beneficiaries will be given the opportunity to submit their business plans for consideration, detailing the damage to their business and the resources required to regenerate income. DRC will evaluate the feasibility of the submitted business proposals and proceed with providing the required support in the form of either direct cash grants or in-kind support, as appropriate. DRC will ensure follow-up and coaching after the provision of the assistance in order to ensure it is utilized correctly and allows businesses to slowly move towards recovery. The proposed activities directly contribute to ERL Sector Priority 2 to increase access to livelihoods and job opportunities for the most vulnerable earthquake-affected households through the provision of emergency support to local shops and businesses. The proposed activities will enable earthquake-affected households to regain access to income, create job opportunities in earthquake-affected communities, and contribute to increased access to markets and essential services and goods in the targeted locations. DRC is targeting 200 businesses in Aleppo city with a focus on Aleppo old city including Dawdaw, Bab Al Maqam, and Al Aqaba souq, in addition to Masariqa neighbourhood, which will indirectly impact an additional 800 business-owner household membersltbrgtlt/pgt