Syria Humanitarian Fund Annual Report 2019

2019 IN REVIEW

This Annual Report presents information on the achievements of the Syria Humanitarian Fund during the 2019 calendar year. However, because grant allocation, project implementation and reporting processes often take place over multiple years (CBPFs are designed to support ongoing and evolving humanitarian responses), the achievement of CBPFs are reported in two distinct ways:

Information on allocations for granted in 2019

This method considers intended impact of the allocations rather than achieved results as project implementation and reporting often continues into the subsequent year and results information is not immediately available at the time of publication of annual reports.

Results reported in 2019 attributed to allocations granted in 2019 and prior years

This method provides a more complete picture of achievements during a given calendar year but includes results from allocations that were granted in previous years. This data is extracted from final narrative reports approved between 1 February 2019 - 31 January 2020.

Figures for people targeted and reached may include double counting as individuals often receive aid from multiple sectors.

Contribution recorded based on the exchange rate when the cash was received which may differ from the Certified Statement of Accounts that records contributions based on the exchange rate at the time of the pledge.

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT

Humanitarian situation in 2019 In its ninth year, the conflict in Syria continues to have a devastating impact on the lives of civilians, resulting in mass population movements and severely dysfunctional public infrastructure and critical services. Half the population of Syria, an estimated 11.7 million people, require humanitarian assistance, of whom over 30 per cent are children and 45 per cent are in acute need.

In early 2019, incidents of violence were reported in Southern Syria, with Dar’a, Quneitra and Rural Damascus Governorates affected. An estimated 2.8 million people were identified as requiring humanitarian assistance with at least half of them in areas of high severity of need. By April, 1.25 million people were displaced to parts of Southern Syria, the vast majority of whom were seeking shelter in Rural Damascus Governorate.

In North East Syria, a large-scale military operation in Deir-ez-Zor resulted in the rapid displacement of tens of thousands of families. The second wave of major displacement occurred in October leading to 200,000 people fleeing the frontlines, mostly in the first weeks of the crisis. In April 2019, hostilities across North-West Syria, particularly Southern Idleb, Northern Hama and Western Aleppo, resulted in the displacement of over 630,000 people between May and August and large-scale damage to public and private property and infrastructure, such as health and education facilities, markets.

Across Syria, critical civilian infrastructure such as electricity and water networks have been destroyed or damaged severely reducing the capacity of services. Persistent disruptions to water and electricity supply forces an over-reliance on paid water trucking or generator services while the economically vulnerable resort to unsafe water sources and limited power, which affects their basic right to equal health, education and livelihood. Over 2019, only 46 percent of health centers and 50 percent of public hospitals were fully operational. At least two in five schools are damaged or destroyed and over two million children were out of school with a further 1.3 million at risk of dropping out.

Most sectors, including health and education face dire shortages in qualified staff.

A rapid devaluation of the Syrian Pound (SYP), due in large part, generated additional humanitarian challenges by further eroding the financial resilience of those near the poverty line. Between January and December 2019, the national average of exchange rate demonstrated a 43 per cent depreciation. This has consequences for the procurement of goods by SHF implementing partners, especially due to fluctuations in market prices and has raised challenges in maintaining long term agreements with contractors and suppliers.