Attachments
OVERALL FINDINGS
Following the cessation of conflict in and around Aleppo city in December 2016, thousands have spontaneously returned to their communities in 2017. In January 2018, only one of the 43 assessed communities, Suran, witnessed spontaneous refugee returns from Turkey. In contrast to December when no assessed communities reported that members of the pre-conflict population left during the assessment period, six communities reported that members of their original population left in January. All six of these communities cited an escalation of conflict as one of the reasons for population departures and are located in the currently contested northwestern subdistricts of A’zaz and Jebel Saman. Of the communities assessed, 93% reported the presence of IDPs, and 27 of the 43 assessed communities reported new arrivals in January. The estimated number of IDP arrivals in assessed communities ranged from 13,085 - 15,305 individuals, a 59% increase compared to the number of arrivals reported in December. The largest number of arrivals were recorded in Atareb subdistrict. The majority of arrivals reportedly originated from other areas of Aleppo governorate. Out of the 40 communities reporting an IDP presence, 72% reported hosting more than 1,000 IDPs and 14% reported the presence of over 10,000 IDPs. Half of the latter were located in Atareb subdistrict, although the largest number of IDPs, 88,000 – 90,000, was reported in A’zaz city, comprising over half of its estimated population of 141,500.
Of the communities assessed, 11 reported that none of the assessed medical items were available in January, while residents in 24 communities reportedly experienced barriers to accessing healthcare. Of these communities, 88% reported that there were no available health facilities in their area. Medical KIs in 15 communities reported that individuals in their community had been diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in January. All of these communities are located in Daret Azza and Atareb subdistricts. Slightly less than half of the communities assessed reported having insufficient water to meet household needs. A majority of these communities are located in A’zaz subdistrict, including A’zaz city, as well as in neighbouring Mare’ and Suran subdistricts. Three communities, Bayada, Salah Ad-Deen and Sayf Ad-Dauleh (in Jebel Saman subdistrict) reported that drinking water from their primary source made people sick. Of the 43 communities assessed, 21 reported a lack of fuel, concentrated in Atareb and Daret Azza sub-districts. Of these communities, 14 reported the presence of over 4,000 IDPs, and four reported that over 10,000 IDPs were residing in their community. Rent prices in all but two of these communities were above the Syrian average of 7,482 SYP and over 10,000 SYP in 13 of them, likely attributable to the large number of IDPs residing in these subdistricts.
Over half of the assessed communities reported experiencing challenges to accessing sufficient amounts of food. A vast majority of these communities reported a lack of resources to buy available food, the high cost of some food items as well as a lack of access to cooking fuel as the most common challenges faced by residents. These 22 communities were predominantly located in A’zaz, Mare’, and Suran subdistricts, and all but two of them reported that unstable employment was among the three most common sources of income. Nonetheless, all communities assessed in Aleppo reported that food was either somewhat sufficient or sufficient, and no extreme food-based coping strategies were reported. Of the communities assessed in Aleppo, 66% reported that children were being sent to work or beg . Most children were reportedly able to access educational facilities in all but three of the assessed communities, where children were unable to attend school due to the destruction of facilities. All three of these communities are located in Jebel Saman subdistrict.