St. Ephrem Patriarchal Development Committee (Epdc Syria)

st. ephrem patriarchal development committee, epdc, is a non-governmental organization, operating under the supervision of the syriac orthodox patriarchate of antioch and all the east, directly subordinated to his holiness patriarch mor ignatius aphrem ii. the syriac orthodox patriarchate of antioch started this current humanitarian project at the beginning of the crisis in iraq, when people started to flee from iraq to syria in 2003 and continued in the years that followed. in 2012, due to the crisis in syria, and its disastrous consequences with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and their movement towards the capital damascus, the late patriarch mor ignatius zakka i († 21/03/2014) gave his blessing to form a committee in order to serve the people most in need. this committee specifically focuses their effort with the affairs of development and relief by providing the assistance for those who are directly or indirectly affected by the war, starting from the patri