"The world forgot us": Women and healthcare in ruined Raqqa by Arianna Pagani

Raqqa, north Syria. More than a...ildren â€“ are notably lacking.

Raqqa, north Syria. More than a year after Raqqa was liberated from so-called Islamic State, tens of thousands of people who returned to a devastated city are still struggling to rebuild, and basic services â€“ especially for women and children â€“ are notably lacking.

Raqqa, north Syria. The network... healthcare services for women.

Raqqa, north Syria. The network of mobile clinics and ambulances, financed by the EU and run by the Italian NGO Un Ponte Per (A Bridge To) and the Kurdish Red Crescent, is trying to fill the gaps, especially in healthcare services for women.

Raqqa, north Syria. At Raqqaâ€™...lu, and respiratory infections.

Raqqa, north Syria. At Raqqaâ€™s al-Rasheed clinic, one of the few places that provides free healthcare in Raqqa city, staff say they see up to 300 patients each day, most of them children. Common ailments include pneumonia, diarrhoea, typhus, flu, and respiratory infections.

Raqqa, north Syria. Residents o...any as 100 patients in a visit.

Raqqa, north Syria. Residents of the village of al-Khalaya wait their turn at the mobile clinic, which stops by for three or four hours a week and sometimes sees as many as 100 patients in a visit.

Raqqa, north Syria. More than a year after Raqqa was liberated from so-called Islamic State, tens of thousands of people who returned to a devastated city are still struggling to rebuild, and basic services â€“ especially for women and children â€“ are notably lacking.

Raqqa, north Syria. A doctor fr...during the day at the hospital.

Raqqa, north Syria. A doctor from the Kurdish Red Crescent takes a break during the day at the hospital.

Raqqa, north Syria. At Raqqaâ€™s al-Rasheed clinic, one of the few places that provides free healthcare in Raqqa city, staff say they see up to 300 patients each day, most of them children. Common ailments include pneumonia, diarrhoea, typhus, flu, and respiratory infections.

Raqqa, north Syria. The fightin... clean up the cityâ€™s streets.

Raqqa, north Syria. The fighting to take back Raqqa from IS, led by Kurdish forces on the ground backed by air support from a US-led coalition, left the city largely in ruins. Demining efforts are ongoing, as are efforts to clean up the cityâ€™s streets.

Raqqa, north Syria. At Raqqaâ€™s al-Rasheed clinic, one of the few places that provides free healthcare in Raqqa city, staff say they see up to 300 patients each day, most of them children. Common ailments include pneumonia, diarrhoea, typhus, flu, and respiratory infections.

Raqqa, north Syria. Sherin Mous...s a midwife in a mobile clinic.

Raqqa, north Syria. Sherin Moustafa Ahmad, 38, fled Raqqa with her family after IS took control of the city in January 2014, declaring it the capital of its caliphate. She returned in 2017 after the liberation to find her home destroyed by shelling, and went back to work as a midwife in a mobile clinic.

Raqqa, north Syria. Medication is free at the mobile clinics.

Raqqa, north Syria. Sheltering ...ndoned. The world forgot us.â€

Raqqa, north Syria. Sheltering from the rain in an abandoned building in al-Khayala, Kheffe Mahmoud says the mobile clinic is one of the only visible presences of aid from the outside world: â€œThey are the only ones helping us in this area. We are abandoned. The world forgot us.â€

Raqqa, north Syria. Maha Hussei...mothers who are undernourished.

Raqqa, north Syria. Maha Hussein, 28, a paediatric nurse at al-Rasheed, says she regularly treats children and mothers who are undernourished.

Raqqa, north Syria. Medication ...now than it was before the war.

Raqqa, north Syria. Medication is free at the mobile clinics. This woman, who asked not to be named or pictured, is picking up a prescription for her daughter. She stayed in the region even when IS took control, moving from house to house, and says that life is tougher in al-Khalaya now than it was before the war.

Raqqa, north Syria. Nine months... plaster are strewn everywhere.

Raqqa, north Syria. Nine months after the liberation of Raqqa from ISIS, the northern Syrian city lies in a heap of debris. Some buildings are crumpled in on themselves, punctured by protruding metal beams and drooping electric wiring, others are just skeletons of what were once people's homes. On the dusty streets, the burnt carcasses of cars and chunks of plaster are strewn everywhere.

Raqqa, north Syria. More than a year after Raqqa was liberated from so-called Islamic State, tens of thousands of people who returned to a devastated city are still struggling to rebuild, and basic services â€“ especially for women and children â€“ are notably lacking.

Raqqa, north Syria. For six mon...raves and makeshift cemeteries.

Raqqa, north Syria. For six months now members of the Civil Defence Unit have worked day in and day out to uncover mass graves and makeshift cemeteries.

Raqqa, north Syria. A doctor fr...ages on the outskirts of Raqqa.

Raqqa, north Syria. A doctor from the Kurdish Red Crescent team driving ambulances in small villages on the outskirts of Raqqa.

Raqqa, north Syria. More than a year after Raqqa was liberated from so-called Islamic State, tens of thousands of people who returned to a devastated city are still struggling to rebuild, and basic services â€“ especially for women and children â€“ are notably lacking.

Arianna Pagani

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