The Syrian complex humanitarian emergency is characterized by more than 10 years of ongoing hostilities and their long-term effects, including large-scale internal and cross-border displacement, widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and significant violations of international humanitarian law.
In 2023, 15.3 million people need humanitarian assistance. Syria remains one of the largest humanitarian responses in the world. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), localized hostilities, the economic crisis, the water crisis and public health emergencies, including cholera and climate-related situations, are expected to remain the main drivers of humanitarian need.
On Feb. 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near the northern border of Syria. This quake was followed approximately nine hours later by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake located around 59 miles (95 kilometers) to the southwest. According to ACAPS, new earthquakes are among the worst-case scenarios for the region because they could impact humanitarian needs and the ability to meet them.
On Feb. 14, the UN and humanitarian partners launched an earthquake Flash Appeal that requests $397.6 million to reach 4.9 million people across Syria between February and May 2023. See CDP’s 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake disaster profile for more.
Syria and Russia want humanitarians to deliver aid internally across conflict lines, but the UN says such “crossline” operations cannot match cross-border operations from Turkey into northwest Syria in terms of size and scope.
On Aug. 7, the UN announced it had reached an agreement with Syria to reopen the Bab Al-Hawa crossing for six months. Around 85% of aid deliveries to the northwest Idlib region had passed through Bab Al-Hawa, so its reopening is significant. The UN’s statement gave no details on the agreement reached with the Syrians.
The country of Turkey is recognized in English as Türkiye by the United Nations.
(Photo Source: Bo Viktor Nylund/ UNICEF MENA)
A deal brokered almost three years ago between Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces, and Turkey, which supports opposition groups, ended fighting that had displaced thousands of people. However, there are signs of escalating hostilities.
In early November 2022, Russian jets bombed camps for internally displaced persons in Idlib killing at least nine civilians. The UN Human Rights Office released a statement expressing concern over the aerial attack and calling for the protection of civilians as outlined under international humanitarian law.
According to UN Human Rights, “over the past ten years, an average of 84 civilians have been killed every day in direct connection to the war in Syria.” Some Arab countries have begun normalizing ties with Assad’s government. Human Rights Watch has said such actions should not occur without accountability for abuses committed over the past 12 years.
Civilians continue to be affected by the conflict, as evidenced by a June 2023 deadly attack on the village of Kafr Kouran near Aleppo by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. On June 25, 2023, at least 11 people were reportedly killed in Russian air strikes on rebel-held Idlib province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it was the deadliest Russian attack this year.
In 2011, peaceful protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government eventually escalated into a civil war between the Syrian government and anti-government rebel groups. The conflict includes many different actors with varying motivations, including foreign governments and extremist organizations such as the Islamic State. A monthslong effort to reintegrate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into the politics and economics of the region was capped by Assad’s appearance at the Arab League summit on May 19.
Key facts
- In 2023, 15.3 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance, including 7 million children and 4.5 million women. For the first time, Syrians living across every sub-district are experiencing some degree of humanitarian stress.
- In Syria, 8.8 million people lived in areas most affected by the earthquake. Overall, 170 sub-districts in 43 districts in 10 of Syria’s governorates were impacted by the earthquake.
- According to the World Bank’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation Report for Syria, direct damages from the earthquakes are estimated at $5.1 billion.
- The World Bank estimates that Syria’s real gross domestic product will contract by 5.5% in 2023 following the February earthquakes. Due to the earthquakes, around 170,000 workers have lost their jobs, leaving about 725,000 people directly affected.
- Prices of commodities continued to rapidly increase in April 2023, becoming unaffordable to most people. The scarcity and rising prices of fuel products have resulted in price increases of commodities, including transportation.
- 12.1 million people are food insecure. Acute malnutrition among children is growing.
- The World Bank estimates more than 50% of Syrians live in extreme poverty. Before the conflict, extreme poverty in Syria was virtually non-existent.
- Between Aug. 25, 2022 and Feb. 15, 2023, 92,649 suspected cases of cholera have been reported from all 14 governorates, including 101 associated deaths to date at a case fatality rate of 0.11%.
- The United Nations (UN) says that between March 2011 and March 2021, more than 350,000 people were killed in the Syrian conflict. However, the number of people killed is believed to be higher. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented more than 494,000 fatalities during this same period.
Climatic shocks and natural hazards
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023, resulted in devastating and deadly outcomes in Syria and will only worsen the humanitarian situation in the country’s northwest. A complex humanitarian emergency (CHE) is a crisis involving multiple causes and often includes a breakdown in authority or inadequate capacity.
The recent earthquake, a natural hazard, is devastating on its own. However, in the broader context of the Syrian CHE, the earthquake is a massive catastrophe because it exacerbates underlying vulnerabilities and complicates disaster response and recovery.
Following the Feb. 6 earthquake, a dam collapsed in northwestern Syria, causing the overflow of the Orontes River. The flood led to the displacements of people from the village of Al-Tlul in Idlib governorate. Approximately 7,000 people were evacuated, and 1,000 houses flooded across the nearby villages of Hardana, Delbiya, Jakara and Hamziyeh. The flood was an example of an indirect and cascading disaster impact that humanitarians must account for while trying to minimize risk as they provide assistance and begin earthquake recovery.
Even relatively minor weather events can be disastrous for already vulnerable populations and infrastructure. For example, on March 29, 2023, a windstorm hit several parts of Syria. One person was killed in Homs City and the storm damaged electricity lines and ruined an electricity post in Nawa.
In summer 2023, wildfires in multiple governorates had less direct impacts on communities than in previous years. However, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), “The
communities affected by the recent fires are already exhausted due to complicated reasons, including the effects of the continuous Syrian crises, climate change, and the last earthquake.”
Syria saw its worst drought in 70 years in 2021, which affected access to drinking water, electricity generation and irrigation. The water crisis was particularly damaging for the country’s wheat harvest, with a loss in production of more than 1 million tons in 2021 compared to the previous year.
The long-running war has severely damaged and neglected infrastructure, but the water situation is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change and other weather events. An estimated 52% of Syrians rely on often unsafe alternatives to piped water. Water deficits have been exacerbated by unusually dry conditions during the wet season and by abnormally high air temperatures.
UNOCHA said, “a severe drought and lower than expected flows of the Euphrates River, coupled with the high cost of fuel and price increases, resulted in a contraction of the harvestable cereal area at a time when 12.6m people.”
In their South Syria Droughts situation report published in August 2023, IFRC said the Al-Sweida governorate, Syria’s most southern governorate, faced a major problem in water needs.
According to the IFRC situation report, “This deterioration in water resources and their scarcity, which are exacerbated by climate crises, have generated tensions in the local community regarding access to water points, agricultural lands, and pastures, especially since these communities rely primarily on agriculture as a source of income and life.”
In northeast Syria, known as the country’s food basket, the quantity and quality of wheat flour has declined due in part to drought.
Deteriorating economy
Socio-economic conditions have been deteriorating rapidly in Syria, with the depreciation of the local currency leading to inflation that worsens food insecurity and pushes people into poverty. According to the World Bank, between 2010 and 2019, Syria’s GDP shrunk by more than half.
In early January 2023, Syria’s economy arguably hit its lowest point since the start of its civil war nearly 12 years ago. The currency collapse in neighboring Lebanon drove devaluation and higher prices in Syria. The ongoing inflation of the Turkish lira caused prices to rise too. The country was also affected by the COVID-19 downturn, Russia’s war in Ukraine, which increased prices and a slowdown in shipments of oil from Iran.
The country’s debilitating economic crisis is severely affecting Syrian families. According to UNOCHA, “The crippled economy, which is characterized by high inflation, currency depreciation and increases in the prices of commodities, remains one of the biggest drivers of need. It drives more people towards poverty, makes them more reliant on humanitarian assistance, increases resort to harmful coping mechanisms and increases the cost.”
The Northwest Syria Joint Market Monitoring Initiative’s July 2023 report noted that the prices of most monitored items continued to increase along with the ongoing currency depreciation of the Turkish lira. The increasing prices contribute to humanitarian challenges in the northwest, where humanitarian aid has experienced funding cuts, and the cross-border resolution situation is not resolved.
The inflation and currency woes were exacerbated by the February 2023 earthquakes, which damaged roads, supermarkets and bakeries. In their reporting on the hunger and economic situation in Syria, The New Humanitarian said on June 6, 2023, “Most basic goods are imported from Türkiye, and inflation in the lira (plus higher prices because of the long-lasting impacts of the war in Ukraine) has hurt everyone who depends on a fixed income, as monthly food aid and wages now buy far less than they used to. By one estimate, prices have shot up 66% across the whole of Idlib province over the past year.”
Displacement
During the second half of 2021, hostilities re-intensified in northern and southern Syria, triggering new displacements and destruction. There are an estimated 6.8 million IDPs in Syria, the largest concentration of IDPs in any single country globally.
The Feb. 6 earthquakes and aftershocks have caused ongoing displacement. In northwest Syria, more than 57,000 displacements were recorded between Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 after the earthquakes. As of March 15, an estimated 500,000 people have been displaced across Syria by the earthquake. The earthquake affected people already displaced in addition to causing new displacements, which are a significant change in people’s way of life, perhaps including loss of livelihood, extreme poverty and damaged social support structure.
More than 10 years of ongoing hostilities have led millions of Syrians to flee the country in search of safety and basic needs. As of Aug. 24, 2023, 5,216,568 Syrian refugees were formally registered in neighboring countries.
Inflation and deteriorating economic conditions in Turkey have led Syrian refugees to report increased tension with host community members. Fearing discrimination and negative attitudes, some Syrians report a reluctance to speak Arabic in public spaces or feeling unsafe.
According to Human Rights Watch, Turkish authorities arbitrarily arrested, detained and deported hundreds of Syrian refugee men and boys to Syria between February and July 2022. The deportations stand in contrast to Turkey’s record of generosity as host to more refugees than any other country in the world.
Between January and December 2022, humanitarians recorded 200,100 spontaneous IDP return movements. Of this figure, the majority were recorded in Idleb governorate.
Food insecurity
According to Syria’s 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 12.1 million people in Syria are food insecure.
In May 2023, WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the latest Hunger Hotspots early warning report on acute food insecurity covering June to November 2023. In the report, Syria is among a handful of countries with “very high concern.”
According to the report, “Deteriorating economic conditions and the impact of the earthquakes in early 2023 are likely to increase acute food insecurity.”
Near the 100-day mark since the earthquakes, Save the Children said the disaster threatens to push at least another 665,000 Syrians into hunger, with doctors and aid agencies warning that levels of child stunting and maternal malnutrition are reaching levels never seen before.
On March 15, 2023, UNICEF warned that after 12 years of conflict, and the recent deadly earthquakes, millions of children in Syria are at heightened risk of malnutrition. The number of 6-59-month-old children suffering from severe acute malnutrition increased by 48% from 2021 to 2022. On June 13, 2023, WFP said it would be forced to end food assistance to 2.5 million Syrians in July if donors did not provide at least $180 million to fund programs through 2023.
Health
A deadly cholera outbreak is spreading in Syria where a shortage of clean water, dense living conditions and few healthcare facilities provide the opportunity for the disease to thrive.
On March 8, 2023, WHO and partners announced the start of a cholera vaccination campaign in earthquake-hit areas of northwest Syria. Since the cholera outbreak was first declared in Syria on Sept. 10, 2022, more than 50,000 suspected cases have been reported in both Idlib and Aleppo governorates, of which 18% of suspected cases were from IDP camps.
According to WHO and humanitarian partners, “The devastating earthquake had a significant impact on the cholera response operations. The earthquake affected access to services, reduced partner capacity, diverted already limited funds available, and also affected negatively the mental health of the workforce.”
WHO said that between Jan. 1, 2023 and June 15, 2023, 74,482 cholera cases and six deaths were reported to them from across Syria. In northwest Syria, WHO received reports of 109,816 cholera cases and 849 deaths between Sept. 16, 2022 and July 15, 2023.
The cholera outbreak makes more apparent and more urgent the need to repair damaged water networks, improve communities’ access to safe drinking water and provide safer sanitation options. The earthquake damaged some of the remaining functioning water sources. Repairs to newly damaged sources and networks will be challenging but critical to reduce the risk of an increase in waterborne diseases after the disaster.
According to Human Rights Watch, Turkish authorities are exacerbating the water crisis that is believed to have given rise to the deadly cholera outbreak spreading across Syria and into nearby countries. The World Health Organization has linked cholera’s comeback in neighboring Lebanon to the outbreak in Syria, where it had spread from Afghanistan via Iran and Iraq.
In addition to managing the cholera outbreak, humanitarians are also providing immunizations, maternal health care, mental health consultations and COVID-19 response. Syria’s Health Cluster says that as of the end of September, donors have funded only 13.2% of the sector’s request for $583 million.
A research snapshot produced by ELRHA and released in August 2023 demonstrates the long-lasting, cumulative impacts that result from attacks on Syria’s health system. “These are found at every level of the health system including the health workforce, and health service utilisation by communities.”
Food and cash assistance
High food prices and lower-than-average agricultural yields, compounded by ongoing inflation, exacerbate food insecurity in Syria. With 12.1 million people in Syria experiencing food insecurity and amid increasing food costs, access to food is essential.
A combination of emergency food products, food rations and cash transfers for food are needed to meet the diversity of nutritional needs of affected people. In its April 14, 2023, Northwest Syria Situation Report, UNOCHA said, “Cash support is a priority in the earthquake response given the resilience of markets.”
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy recommends cash both as a donation method and a recovery strategy. Direct cash assistance can allow families to purchase items and services that address their multiple needs. It gives each family flexibility and choice, ensuring that support is relevant and timely. Cash-based approaches to disaster recovery also give people the freedom to choose how they rebuild their lives and provide a pathway to economic empowerment.
Access to water and sanitation
More than a decade of war has damaged infrastructure, and climate change exacerbates the situation. Families are forced to depend on water delivered by truck, which is expensive and often cost prohibitive. CDP’s NGO partners reported that access to clean water was an immediate significant need in northwest Syria after the Feb. 6 earthquake. Access to clean water and sanitation will be an ongoing need in the country.
Additionally, insufficient rainfall and low water levels in the Euphrates River have resulted in reduced access to water for drinking and domestic use for more than 5 million people. This has also led to harvest and income losses, an increase in waterborne diseases and protection risks. The cholera outbreak makes clearer and more urgent the need to repair damaged water networks, improve communities’ access to safe drinking water and provide safer sanitation options.
Health
Health care access and quality have severely deteriorated after years of conflict, an economic crisis, and reduced donor funding. The water crisis has forced families and aid organizations to truck in water, which is becoming more costly due to rising fuel and electricity prices.
Without access to water, there has been an increase in diseases such as diarrhea, malnutrition, skin conditions and cholera. Needs include increasing cholera treatment capacity, especially in Northeast Syria, to address critical gaps.
Following the devastating earthquakes, the risk of an increase in waterborne diseases, including cholera, is very high due to over-crowded settings. There is also extensive damage to water and sanitation infrastructure, and damage and disruption to cholera treatment infrastructure that require support.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, after earthquake damage in northwest Syria, urgent action is needed “to prevent collapse of water systems and avoid devastating humanitarian consequences.”
Families often cannot afford medications, and health care workers are working in challenging environments without access to adequate equipment and medicines.
Additional funding is needed to address shortages in staff, medicines and equipment. Funding cuts resulted in reduced operational capacities in 2022, prompting some hospitals to scale back their services, putting people’s lives at risk.
Syrian refugees living in Turkey the country and those who cross the border for health care also need health services. According to the Syria Health Cluster, 74% of antenatal care visits in 2022 were cross-border visits.
Hospitals in Syria have been subjected to airstrikes, missile attacks and shelling, resulting in fewer patient consultations, loss of health-related infrastructure and increased risks for health workers. Health workers in Syria have been targeted and face risks to their lives. Supporting these workers and providing them with the protection and equipment required to treat people is critical.
After enduring 12 years of conflict and devastating earthquakes, mental health and psychosocial support for people in Syria is a critical need. After the earthquake, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières provided psychological first aid and then focused on trauma.
Shelter
In the aftermath of the earthquakes, affected people will need access to safe, warm shelters in the short term. All emergency shelters should be winterized and built with disaster risk in mind.
In the longer-term, housing reconstruction will be required. However, such reconstruction will be challenging given the complexity of Syria’s crisis and the various authorities that control parts of the country. In Idlib, Syria the destruction from conflict combined with earthquake damage has only increased the shelter needs there.
According to the Syria earthquake Flash Appeal, “The earthquake has not only resulted in additional displacement due to damaged/unsafe shelter but has also diminished the prospects for safe return of IDPs originally from earthquake-affected areas. Safe shelter will be one of the main needs in the aftermath of the earthquake.”
The shelter recovery process is ongoing but faces many challenges. By April 2023, humanitarians had rehabilitated several mid-term shelters in Aleppo. In May 2023, shelter partners provided assistance through a variety of emergency shelter options, including adaptations to collective centers, rehabilitation of collective shelters, mobilizing resources for cash for minor repairs and supporting authorities in the design of temporary settlements.
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has a Global Recovery Fund that provides an opportunity for donors to meet the ongoing and ever-expanding challenges presented by global crises, including finding long-term solutions for communities in protracted humanitarian crises like Syria.
Contact CDP
Philanthropic contributions
If you would like to make a donation to the CDP Global Recovery Fund, please contact development.
(Photo: Shukran returned to her home in Deir ez-Zor a year ago. She received training and support for small projects from UNHCR and is now able to provide for her family’s needs. Source: UN Refugee Agency in Syria via Twitter.)
Recovery updates
If you are a responding NGO or a donor, please send updates on how you are working on recovery from this disaster to Tanya Gulliver-Garcia.
We welcome the republication of our content. Please credit the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
Donor Recommendations
If you are a donor looking for recommendations on how to help with disaster recovery, please email Regine A. Webster.
Philanthropic and government support
CDP, through its COVID-19 Response Fund, awarded $200,000 to Medair in 2020 to support national efforts to reduce COVID-19 transmission in Lebanon and Sudan. In Lebanon, Medair provided technical support to staff working in triage and isolation centers, training for community health workers and information dissemination to counter myths about the virus in the Bekaa Valley, where many Syrian refugees lived.
Syria’s 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks $4.81 billion to reach 13 million of the 15.3 million people in need. As of Aug. 29, 2023, donors had funded only 25.7% of the HRP. The response plan funding requirements have grown nearly annually since 2012, demonstrating the significant and growing humanitarian needs in the country.
On June 15, a European Union-hosted conference in Brussels led to pledges of $6.13 billion to support people inside Syria and neighboring countries hosting Syrian refugees in 2023 and 2024. UN agencies and humanitarians had hope for similar pledges to the $6.7 billion offered for Syria at the 2022 conference.
More ways to help
As with most disasters and emergencies, cash donations are recommended by disaster experts as they allow for on-the-ground agencies to direct funds to the most significant area of need, support local economic recovery and ensure material donations do not detract from disaster recovery needs.
Donors can help in the following ways:
- Provide unrestricted core funding for vetted humanitarian NGO partners that support the HRP. This is an efficient way to ensure the best use of resources in a coordinated manner. Funding the NGOs that have contributed to the HRP ensures that resources are directed to support the plan and use humanitarian partners’ best knowledge.
- Understand that recovery is possible in protracted and complex crisis settings. Even while focusing on immediate needs, remember that there are early and long-term recovery needs, too. We know that people who have been affected by shocks in complex humanitarian contexts can recover, improve their situation and build their resilience to withstand future shocks without waiting until the crisis is over, which may take years. Recovery is possible, and funding will be needed for recovery and resilience efforts alongside humanitarian funding. Recovery will take a long time, and funding will be needed now and throughout.
- Support institutional development of local and national civil society in Syria. Civil society was extremely underdeveloped and nascent in Syria before the crisis began, yet most of the humanitarian response is implemented by local groups formed in the last 10 years. Supporting these newly formed local civil society actors with unrestricted operational support and capacity strengthening is critical to rebuilding Syria and helping communities recover.
- Recognize there are places and ways that private philanthropy can help that other donors may not. Private funders can support nimble and innovative solutions that leverage or augment the larger humanitarian system response, either filling gaps or modeling change that, once tested and proven, can be taken to scale within the broader humanitarian response structure. Philanthropy can also provide sustainable funding to national and local organizations that support needed operational costs.
Fund resources
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
CHEs involve an acute emergency layered over ongoing instability. Multiple scenarios can cause CHEs, like the civil wars in Syria and Yemen, the man-made political crisis in Venezuela, or the public health crisis in Congo.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Water is one of the most necessary elements for life, yet according to the World Health Organization/UNICEF, 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water. In addition, 4.5 billion people lack safely-managed sanitation facilities. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) principles are of tremendous concern in everyday life, but can be heightened during an emergency or disaster.
Earthquakes
Striking without warning, earthquakes often are among the most devastating disasters. Caused by the movement of plates along fault lines on the earth’s surface, earthquakes often leave a monumental path of instant death and destruction.
