Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Thirteen years of crisis have upended the lives of children and their families across the Syrian Arab Republic, leaving 15.3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including 7 million children. Of the country's 6.8 million internally displaced people, 5.3 million require humanitarian support. Protracted conflict, economic decay, disease outbreaks and multiple earthquakes in early 2023, coupled with mass displacement, widespread damaged infrastructure, limited humanitarian access and climate-related shocks drive these needs.
-
In 2024, UNICEF and partners will deliver life-saving assistance while integrating early recovery and resilience-building efforts into all programmes to address the immediate needs of communities to ensure a long-lasting impact on children lives. UNICEF will implement integrated multisectoral programmes that are gender-responsive and disabilityinclusive. Priorities are populations and areas with high-severity needs. Cross-cutting commitments on accountability to affected populations and community engagement will be systematized across interventions to enhance programme quality and equity.
-
UNICEF requires $401.7 million to provide an essential lifeline to 8.5 million people, including 5.4 million children. This funding requirement is lower than that of the revised 2023 appeal due to prioritization of needs and streamlined earthquake and cholera-related responses adapted to the evolving situation.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS
Children in the Syrian Arab Republic are experiencing the worst effects of an unparalleled and complex emergency. Because of prolonged conflict, public health emergencies, climaterelated shocks and mass protracted displacement – and the economic fallout of all of it – 15.3 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 7 million children and 5.3 million internally displaced people.
The earthquakes that hit Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic in February 2023 aggravated people's long-standing vulnerabilities. In the Syrian Arab Republic alone, more than 8.8 million people, including 3.3 million children, were affected, resulting in nearly 6,000 casualties, more than 12,000 injuries and substantial damage to homes and essential infrastructure.
Socioeconomic decay has pushed more families into poverty, disproportionally affecting women, children and people with disabilities. Eighty-five per cent of households struggle to make ends meet, which increases their reliance on humanitarian aid and negative coping mechanisms – such as child labour and consumption of suboptimal diets – and further limits their access to basic services. More than 40 per cent of hospitals and health facilities are not functioning or are only partially functioning,17 and public health emergencies – such as the country's ongoing cholera epidemic, where 189,374 suspected cholera cases and 105 associated deaths were reported in 14 governorates between 25 August 2022 and 2 September 2023 – further add to the pressure on the health system. Climate-induced shocks and power supply disruptions intensify water scarcity and food insecurity. Nearly 13.6 million people require access to WASH services and 5.9 million people, including 3.8 million children, require nutritional assistance.
Children are experiencing a protection crisis, with 2,438 grave violations recorded in 20229 and 6.3 million children needing protection services. Insecurity and economic hardship heighten human rights violations, fear and psychosocial distress, gender-based violence, child marriage and incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse. Unexploded ordnance contamination is a major concern. Some 6.9 million children and education personnel need emergency education services, including 3.2 million girls, given poverty levels and 7,000 destroyed or damaged schools. Around 2.4 million children are out of school and another 1.6 million children, particularly those with disabilities, are at risk of dropping out.
In the northwest, 4.1 million people have muti-layered humanitarian needs, including 2.9 million internally displaced people, 2 million of whom live in overcrowded camps. Some 3.8 million people need health care, 3.7 million are food insecure and 2.1 million require urgent WASH assistance. Protection risks are paramount, and children need support to realize their right to education. In the northeast, children and women face arbitrary arrest, extensive violence and forced relocation. An estimated 95 per cent of camps lack adequate infrastructure, posing safety concerns.