Attachments
Appeal highlights
- Children throughout the Syrian Arab Republic face one of the world's most complex emergencies. More than 14.6 million people (6.5 million children) require assistance, and 6.9 million people (3 million children) are internally displaced. A full two thirds of the population requires assistance due to a worsening economic crisis, localized hostilities, mass displacement and devastated public infrastructure.
- In 2023, UNICEF will deliver life-saving and early recovery services with its partners and field offices, fostering the resilience of children and families. UNICEF will address the needs of girls, boys, adolescents and families through integrated gender-responsive programming prioritizing high-severity areas; and by systematizing preparedness, accountability to affected populations and the prevention of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.
- UNICEF requires US$328.5 million to meet the needs of children in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2023. The greatest funding requirements are for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health (including the cholera response) and education.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS
Children in the Syrian Arab Republic continue to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Two thirds of the population requires assistance because of a worsening economic crisis, continued localized hostilities, mass displacement and devastated public infrastructure. The 14.6 people in need include 4.3 million women, 6.5 million children (2.9 million girls), 4.2 million people with disabilities and 5.3 million internally displaced people.
A cholera outbreak declared on 10 September 2022 quickly spread across the country. It threatened children, especially those living in crowded informal settlements. The outbreak is a result of the large-scale destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, the economic crisis, electricity outages and prolonged drought. Forty-seven per cent of the population relies on alternative water sources, up from 37 per cent in 2021; 2 million fewer people are using water networks than in 2020 due to a combination of natural and human factors.
Ninety per cent of families in the Syrian Arab Republic live in poverty and 55 per cent are food insecure. Food prices in the country increased by a third in the first six months of the war in Ukraine. Undernutrition (high stunting levels, increasing wasting levels and micronutrient deficiencies) and overweight affect 3.75 million children. Only two-thirds of schools and half of health centres are fully functional. There are 2.4 million children out of school and 1.6 million at risk of dropping out. Children with disabilities are particularly likely to be deprived of their education.
Protection concerns remain paramount. In 2021, 2,271 grave violations were recorded against children, including recruitment, killing and maiming, a six per cent increase compared with 2020. The economic crisis is worsening negative coping mechanisms and particularly affecting female-headed households; it is contributing to the normalization of gender-based violence and child exploitation, which predominantly affects girls and boys. Seventy-one per cent of communities surveyed reported child marriage (often affecting girls) and 84 per cent reported that children are working (often affecting boys).
Ninety-one per cent of the 4.5 million people living in the northwest are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 2.8 million internally displaced people. Food insecurity affects 3.1 million people in the area, and 1.9 million people are reliant on water trucking. Protection concerns are acute for the 12,000 women and children living in 48 so-called ‘widow camps’.
In the northeast, political and conflict dynamics drive elevated protection concerns and complicate aid delivery. Among those affected are internally displaced people in Al-Hol camp (54,000 people, 64 per cent children) and Al-Roj camp (2,600 people, 66 per cent children), including children who are third-country nationals and need repatriation to their countries of origin.