Attachments
OVERALL FINDINGS
Syria’s capital, Damascus city, is located in the southwest of the country, close to the border with Lebanon. The situation in the governorate is relatively stable compared to other assessed governorates across Syria.
In January 2018, none of the 15 assessed neighbourhoods in Damascus reported departures of members of their pre-conflict population. Formerly contested Qaboun, and currently contested Yarmuk, Tadamon and Joubar Sharqi all reported that only 1-25% of their original population remained present in January. None of the assessed neighbourhoods witnessed spontaneous returns in January . IDPs were present in all but four of the assessed neighbourhoods. Of these neighbourhoods, 40% reported hosting over 1,000 IDPs, while two neighbourhoods, Masakin Barza and Mazzeh 86, reported the presence of 35,000 – 40,000 and 10,000 – 10,100 IDPs, respectively. KIs in both neighbourhoods cited improved access to employment, income and shelter as one of the main reasons why IDPs chose to remain.
Pre-conflict, returnee and IDP populations reportedly lived in independent apartments or houses across assessed neighbourhoods with the exception of Joubar Sharqi. While pre-conflict and returnee populations most commonly owned the property that they lived in, the majority of IDPs in assessed neighbourhoods were reportedly renting property or being hosted without rent. Average rent prices in all but two of these neighbourhoods were above the Syrian average of 7,482 SYP and were over 30,000 SYP in 4. All but three of the assessed neighbourhoods reported that the main networks were their primary source of water and electricity: Tadamon, Yarmuk and Joubar Sharqi. Tadamon also reported that no health facilities were available in the neighbourhood, while in Joubar Sharqi, Zahreh and Yarmuk health facilities were available, but security concerns to enter and remain in facilities posed a barrier to accessing healthcare. Tadamon, Joubar Sharqi and Qaboun reported not having functioning educational facilities at any level, but children in Qaboun and Tadamon were able to attend schools in neighbouring areas, while no women and children reportedly lived in Joubar Sharqi . Please see the individual Community Profiles for Tadamon, Yarmuk and Qaboun for more information on those neighbourhoods.
All neighbourhoods, with the exception of Joubar Sharqi, reported that food was available for purchase in January, yet six reported challenges in accessing sufficient amounts of food. In these neighbourhoods, the most commonly reported barrier was the high cost of some food items. Some residents in five out of these six neighbourhoods reportedly relied on unstable employment as their main source of income, and two, Tadamon and Yarmuk, reported that high risk, illegal work was a common source of income. All assessed neighbourhoods reported that household incomes were insufficient to cover needs, and 87% of assessed neighbourhoods reported that residents were coping with the lack of sufficient income by skipping meals.