Syrian Arab Republic

Against a backdrop of critical humanitarian needs faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Libya, UNHCR has up-scaled its response in seeking durable solutions for persons of concern (POCs) in third safe countries through its resettlement and humanitarian evacuations programmes.

Angela Kirkian was born in Aleppo. She came to Armenia four years ago with her mother. Her sister, brother, and aunt stayed in Syria.

Summary of major revisions made to emergency plan of action:

When Jamil first arrived in Istanbul in 2014, everything was new, different and intimidating. As a fourteen-year-old, it was a struggle to adjust and find ways to connect with people, so he spent a lot of time alone and in his room. His family worried, but weren’t sure how to help their homesick teenager. Back in Aleppo, Jamil was outgoing and had a large social circle, including extended family and his school friends.

• New on www.polioeradication.org: Rotarians are at the heart of the fight to end polio, and in Pakistan, are reducing chance of virus spread through provision of clean drinking water.

• This week, the World Health Assembly is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, and will be presented with a Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition (including the Post-Certification Strategy), a status report on polio eradication, and a proposed resolution on containment of polioviruses.

Key Takeaways:

This update provides a summary of recent displacement, along with developments from the UNHCR co-led Sector/Clusters of Protection, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and Shelter/Non Food Items (SNFI).

KEY DISPLACEMENT STATISTICS (AS OF 15 MAY 2018)

• 1,485,295 displacements recorded by the CCCM Cluster in the last 12 months from affected areas of northern and southern Syria:

Patients’ requirements for medical care do not change when frontlines move and control shifts from one group to another in the ongoing war in Syria. After seven years of being denied access, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) once again requests the Syrian government to grant us access to all areas to provide medical treatment to Syrians in dire need, wherever they are.

This report is produced by the OCHA Syria Crisis offices with the contribution of all sectors in the hubs and at the Whole of Syria (WoS) level. The situation overview covers the period from 15 April – 15 May 2018. The next report will be issued on or around 20 June 2018.

Highlights

• An estimated 132,000 individuals returned to Ar-Raqqa city since October 2017 and 175,000 to Deir-ez Zor governorate since November 2017, although conditions for returns remain unsafe.

Damascus, 14 June 2018 – The government of Japan announced the second phase of funding for the UN’s ‘Education for All’ joint programme in Syria, bringing the total support to the programme to US$25.5 million. Anchored in the No Lost Generation Initiative, the programme will contribute to ensuring increased access for children and young people to quality learning, skills- building and participation, including those living in hard to reach and besieged areas. Programme implementation started in early 2017 to be concluded by the end of 2018.

General developments & political & security situation

• On 22 May, a convoy of an estimated 400 people from Yarmouk arrived in Madiq Castle in northern Hama Governorate, following a local agreement reached between parties. This development renders the whole of Damascus and Rural Damascus governorates under GoS control.

OVERALL FINDINGS

Rural Damascus is a largely agricultural governorate that surrounds Damascus city. Since 2013, Rural Damascus has had the largest number of communities classified as besieged by the United Nations, most of which were in Eastern Ghouta. However, on February 18th, a new ground and air offensive was launched on Eastern Ghouta, further intensifying the already severe humanitarian challenges faced by residents.

During the first quarter of 2018, the Protection sector has continued to focus the delivery of protection services to people with protection needs through support to community centers, multi-functional centers, and women/girls safe spaces. Simultaneously, efforts to enhancing the capacity of government service providers, particularly the Social Services Centers run by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies (MoFSP), to promote the integration of individuals with protection needs into existing support systems were intensified.

Ebola outbreak

Delegates to the World Health Assembly heard today that the next few weeks would tell whether the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo would continue to expand to urban areas or could be kept under control. Vaccination of high-risk populations began earlier this week in the affected area of the country, a densely forested area covering hundreds of kilometres and which is largely without roads or electricity.

Islamic Relief USA (IR USA) generously contributed US$ 2.4 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to support 3,000 vulnerable Palestine refugees in Gaza.

In this issue

1. Humanitarian & Development Overview
   
2. Partners activities in Host Communities
   
3. Voices from Jordan
   
4. Changing the narrative
   
5. Partners activities in Camps
   
6. Innovation
   
7. Advocacy

Humanitarian and Development Overview

DFID overcame substantial barriers to the delivery of aid, such as food, shelter and vaccines but took too long to put the required staffing and resources in place

The conflict in Syria has been one of the most brutal in modern history, costing nearly half a million lives, displacing more than 12 million people from their homes and leaving 5.6 million in severe humanitarian need in Syria.