Reimagining Resilience: Climate Adaptation Solutions Across The Middle East

Facing the outages expected to worsen with climate crisis, residents of the Syrian village of Khirais, with support from the non-profit Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), turned to solar power to address their critical energy shortages. A 2021 pilot project installed solar panels for homes, businesses, and public spaces. The shift to solar has had a tangible impact: it has extended working hours, increased local earnings, and improved food storage. According to Bakhtiyor Azizmamadov, Programmes Director at AKF in Syria, the project has successfully electrified the entire village, with the community capably managing a system that now provides 24-hour power to all households and public spaces. Due to this success, the model is being replicated in other communities, demonstrating a form of distributed resilience for survival in fragile states.