Health Sector Syria - Health Sector Bulletin - February 2025

SPECIAL EDITION WITH A FOCUS ON IMPACT OF DE-FUNDING THE HEALTH SECTOR SYRIA AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH NEEDS AND PRIORITIES

Current situation:

• Health System Disruption: 57% of Syria’s hospitals and 37% of its primary healthcare centers are fully functional; widespread shortages of supplies reported.
• Humanitarian Needs Persist: 15.8 million people need humanitarian health assistance in 2025 – more than 65% of the total population.
• Displacement & Population Movements: At the start of 2024, 6.9 M Refugees and 7.4 M IDPs., including 1.1 million new displacements at peak of recent crisis, refugee & IDP returns ongoing – many hazards while on the move.
• Conflict, Insecurity & Related Risks: Menbij / E. Aleppo remains unstable; health workers & patients unsafe to travel in some areas; UXO incidents – especially NWS & Deir-ez-Zor.
• Governance Capacity Strained & In Flux: Caretaker period ends 28 Feb; changing leadership at national and governorate levels; policies and protocols being revised.
• Integration Efforts: Very nascent for specific public health programs (e.g. EWARS/N); wider plans still to be announced; NES remains under different control.
• Major Funding Shortages in Health Sector: exacerbated by USG funding freeze.

Present challenges:

• Expectations: Immense job to rebuild the health system but needs are IMMEDIATE. • Integration: Not just health system, also overall governance, UN, communities.
• Trust-building: After long periods of conflict and poor public services.
• “New” Actors in “New” Geographies: heavy demands on coordination, local authorities.
• Bilateral Assistance: Robust show of support and needs to be well-coordinated with humanitarian system to ensure effective use of resources and avoid duplication. \
• Needs Exceed Resources: government and humanitarian actors alike are under immense strain.
• Uncertainty: What comes next regarding governance, peace-building, sanctions, commitments to Syria’s future.

Undertaken high-level advocacy activities to highlight Health Sector Prioritization and Needs:

• RC/HC donor briefing in Amman, 10 February
• WHO Syria Donor Briefing, 11 February
• WoS Strategic Steering Group Meeting, 12 February
• Remarks by Ambassador Shea, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, at a UN Security Council Briefing on the Political and Humanitarian Situations in Syria, 12 February 2025
• Briefing to the Security Council by Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on the humanitarian situation in Syria,12 February 2025
• Regional Dialogue Mechanism, 13 January
• The Paris Conference on Syria, 13 February 2025
  The Munich Security Conference, 14 – 16 February 2025
• Meeting between Resident Coordinator Office and MoFAE, 17 February - Development Planning and UN Transitional Action Plan, Visa Process, Liquidity and Central Bank of Syria, UN shipments, Project approvals, Re-registration of NGOs
• Continuous meetings with donor missions in Damascus