Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund: 2023 Third Reserve Allocation - Strategy

A major earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck southeast Türkiye and northern Syria on 6 February, followed by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake later the same day. Several aftershocks were recorded in the following days, including a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck the Türkiye-Syria border on 20 February. The UN estimates that 8.8 million people have been affected in Syria. Prior to the earthquakes, an estimated 4.1 million people in Northwest Syria were already in need of humanitarian assistance. The destruction caused by the earthquakes forced thousands of families to flee their shelters and seek refuge in spaces, including collective shelters.

In the aftermath of the earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria, the Deputy Resident Humanitarian Coordinator (DRHC) launched the first SCHF Reserve Allocation 2023 (RA1) on 20 February to rapidly scale up the humanitarian response in the affected areas. The RA1 was critical to immediately address the life-threatening needs of the affected population, particularly those of newly displaced families, elderly, women, children, and people with disabilities. Through RA1 and the SCHF Phase 1 for the Earthquake Response (EQR) the Fund disbursed $36,1 million supporting all sectors just over a month after the earthquake.

With the SCHF third Reserve Allocation (RA3) being considered as EQR Phase 2, the timing of the RA3, as well as generous donor contributions have allowed for DRHC to expand the scope of the RA3 with the indicative amount of US$60,7 million aiming to serve three strategic envelopes, addressing and supporting resilience and critical gaps, mitigating potential risks associated from the UN Security Council Resolution vote on July 10, in addition to addressing underfunded priorities from the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan. The following envelopes have been approved by the DRHC:

• Envelope 1 – Ensuring access to lifesaving and life-sustaining integrated services by supporting the transition from emergency to sustainable response (US$27,7M)

• Envelope 2 – Prepositioning of core relief items to support resilience in support of the UN business continuity plan (US$9,5M)

• Envelope 3 - Provision of lifesaving and life sustaining humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people and communities by improving access to basic services, through integrated single and multisectoral activities (US$23,5M)

This Allocation will be followed by the first Standard Allocation, 2023 (SA1), currently under development, and builds synergies with the recently approved US$ 25 million CERF Allocation for Underfunded Emergencies. In all supported interventions, SCHF partners will include strategic cross-cutting elements including gender, protection, and accountability to ensure effective programming and response. This allocation spearheads the strategic use of unconditional and unrestricted Multipurpose Cash (MPC).