Promote safe access to housing in Harasta city, Rural Damascus During the conflict in East Ghouta, Harasta, among other communities was at the battle front-line and witnessed military operations lasted until March 2018. As a result, a network of underground tunnels of a total length of more than 15 Km and various depths (3 to 27 m) and approximate dimensions (1.1 * 1.8 m) were dug for different reasons. Due to the urban nature of Harasta city, it is no surprise that significant part of these tunnels passes beneath the residential buildings but also the public buildings (schools, health facilities and religious buildings).

Since the situation was stabilized, the city has witnessed a noticeable return of IDPs who lived mostly in neighboring communities (Al-Tal and Damascus). Moreover, an internal population movement has taken place where residents who relocated during the conflict to safer parts of the city started to return to their original residences whenever their houses looks structurally sound. As a result, a spontaneous light shelter rehabilitation has taken place since then.

Being invisible, the tunnels, and the shallow ones in the first place, remain a silent extreme threat to public safety because they jeopardize the stability of buildings that otherwise look sound and inviting for people to return. And with water resulting from the rain and the city’s malfunctioning sewerage system, building collapses becomes more probable. In fact, the city was the place of two collapse incidents during the last 2 years especially in the rainy season. No casualties have been reported luckily, but with return taking place at higher pace due to the rehabilitation activities of infrastructure in the city, more and more buildings are expected to be occupied and the possibility of such incidents can’t be ruled out.

Moreover, the military operations resulted in hundred of thousands of cubic meters of rubble in streets and public spaces clogging the city returning to normal life pace with IDPs.

Based on the above, as well as the results of a detailed needs assessment conducted jointly by the municipality and groups of volunteered engineers, and on the joint action plan exercise led by the municipality with the contribution of the main public actors and service providers in the city under the UN-Habitat’s municipal support programme, UN-Habitat is proposing an approach aims to eliminate the threats posed to the structural stability of residential buildings and public facilities which are either structurally safe or able to be rehabilitated (green and yellow buildings)

To achieve this goal the following components will be implemented:
	Fill in the tunnels beneath residential buildings with concrete mixture homogeneous with the surrounding ground, to protect the ground under buildings from collapsing, along with repairing any damaged household infrastructure connections in these tunnels 
	Removal of 10 thousand cubic meters of debris thus contributing to the normalization of situation in the city and rendering it more appealing to a return that is safe and dignified and
	Removal of dangerous, hanging and falling parts from damaged buildings.

The project is expected to reach 9,000 direct beneficiaries in Harasta city, Rural Damascus.