Syrian Arab Republic: Annual Report - 2023 Humanitarian Response (January - December 2023)

Trends in Context and Needs

In 2023, humanitarian needs in Syria continued to rise inexorably, with already dire conditions worsening further. A new sharp escalation in violence and violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL) led to new displacement and suffering. From 1 January to 31 October 2023, 454 civilians, including 88 women and 115 children, were killed as a result of the conflict. Moreover, the February 2023 devastating earthquakes in northern Syria and Türkiye -with almost 6,000 deaths and more than 12,800 people injured in Syria- have added agony to the crisis, increasing the strain on services, causing displacement, and inflicting widespread damage. As new emergencies exacerbated existing crises, the cumulative impact of shocks in Syria resulted in ever more people in need of humanitarian assistance.

The socioeconomic situation continued to deteriorate, further exacerbated by the earthquakes, negatively impacting social cohesion, and amplifying vulnerabilities. This year was marked by high inflation, fuel shortages, currency depreciation and Soaring commodity prices. The effects of economic deterioration and lack of livelihood opportunities further exposed women and girls to the risk of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and other forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the effort of accessing food and job opportunities. People in Syria continued to resort to negative coping mechanisms to meet their needs, including relying on humanitarian assistance, child labour and adopting harmful food consumption practices.

The erosion of service capacity continued, with deteriorated and non-functioning water and sanitation systems, and public health services under immense strain. Limited funding and migration of skilled personnel restricted the quality and availability of these services, putting more people at risk. Moreover, the increase in the number of people residing in camps underlines the urgent need for improved services and minimum standards to ensure adequate living conditions.

Recurrent outbreaks of waterborne diseases and vaccine-preventable illnesses, combined with the prolonged drought, water crisis and food insecurity, all contributed to rising malnutrition rates. Food insecurity continued to worsen with at least 15.4 million people estimated to be food insecure, and an additional 2.6 million at risk of becoming food insecure if the situation deteriorates further in 2024.

In 2023, the UN continued its efforts to employ all possible modalities to deliver aid, including by scaling up cross-border and crossline humanitarian operations.
On 10 July 2023, the UN Security Council failed to extend the resolution authorizing UN cross-border aid delivery to north-west Syria via Bab Al-Hawa crossing. Shortly thereafter, the Government of Syria (GoS) granted the UN and its partners six-month permission to use the Bab Al-Hawa crossing to deliver humanitarian aid from Türkiye to civilians in need in north-west Syria, starting from 13 July 2023. Opened briefly after the February earthquakes, Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee crossings also continued to be used by humanitarian actors based on consent from GoS to support the affected populations.

By the end of 2023, 16.7 million people were estimated to require humanitarian assistance in 2024, the largest number since the beginning of the crisis in 2011. This also includes 2.05 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in last-resort IDP sites.