Attachments
Executive Summary
Background
Since the beginning of conflict in March 2011, 5.5 million Syrians have been displaced to neighbouring countries and further abroad. Within Syria, 6.1 million people are internally displaced and an estimated 13.1 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 4.2 million in need of shelter assistance and 4.7 million in need of assistance with non-food items (NFI). Planning and implementing an adequate humanitarian response in Syria has been hindered by significant challenges in accessing detailed and up-to-date information related to the needs of conflict-affected populations, including in terms of shelter and NFIs. In order to strengthen sectoral evidencebased response planning by humanitarian actors in Syria, REACH led a comprehensive shelter and NFI assessment in July 2017 on behalf of the Shelter/NFI Cluster and in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The assessment builds on a previous shelter and NFI assessment that was facilitated by REACH in December 2016. This second assessment covered accessible areas in the governorates of Idleb, Hama, Homs, Aleppo, Dar’a, Quneitra, Ar-Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor, and made available updated data to inform the 2018 HNO (Humanitarian Needs Overview).
Methodology
Of the 158 sub-districts in the 8 targeted governorates, 87 were assessed. These 87 sub-districts are home to 60% of the population in the assessed governorates and 34% of the population of Syria. In order to cover as wide an area as possible, a mixed methodology approach was employed. Data was collected through a total of 7,252 household surveys in Idleb, Hama, Homs, Aleppo, Dar’a and Quneitra governorates. In Deir-ez-Zor and Ar-Raqqa governorates data was collected through interviews with a total of 244 KIs (key informants) knowledgeable about shelter and NFI issues in their communities. In governorates assessed through household surveys, random sampling was used to allow for findings to be representative with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error 5% at the governorate level. At the sub-district level, this allowed for findings to be representative with a 95% confidence level and 10% margin of error. Indicators were designed in collaboration with the Shelter Cluster and the UNHCR and built on the tools used in the December 2016 Shelter and NFI assessment, with additional input from cluster members at the Whole of Syria level. Data was collected by REACH, Syria Relief Network (SRN) and Binaa Organization for Development between 6 July and 10 August 2017, following initial training of field teams and a pilot data collection exercise.
Throughout this report, findings are compared with those of the December 2016 Shelter and NFI assessment.
However, in some governorates there was a significant difference in coverage between the two assessments. For this reason, Aleppo and Homs were excluded from all trends analysis. The report also occasionally refers to trends across regions. In that case, Northeast is defined as Ar-Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor, Northwest is defined as Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Idleb, and South is defined as Dar’a and Quneitra.
Key findings
Shelter
Households across assessed areas faced high levels of shelter damage and, more generally, inadequate shelter. Shelter adequacy issues were reported by more than half of households in Dar’a, Hama and Quneitra and more than 30% in Aleppo, Idleb and Homs. KIs in Ar-Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor also estimated that more than half of the households in their communities faced shelter adequacy issues. The most commonly reported shelter