Syrian Arab Republic: Cross-Border Humanitarian Reach and Activities from Türkiye (December 2023)

CONTEXT

In the month of December, active hostilities continued to be reported almost daily. Since hostilities escalated on 5 October, at least 99 civilians have been killed and over 400 injuries have been reported by local health authorities, as of the end of December. Nearly 9,000 people were newly displaced in November according to the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, the majority of whom were women and children. The two most commonly cited push factors for displacement were identified as loss of income and hostilities.

The UN and its partners are continuing to respond to the dire situation in north-west Syria with assistance and protection services. In December, a total of 547 trucks carrying food, shelter, and other UN aid crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria – almost doubled the number of trucks compared to the last two months. Additionally, 27 cross-border missions were conducted by UN personnel to Idleb and northern Aleppo in the same month.

Winterization efforts are also ongoing and there has been an increase in reporting of winter incidents such as flooding. According to the Winterization and Flood Preparedness Response Plan for this season, the humanitarian community is targeting 2.1 million people with winter assistance including the provision of cash, winter kits, stoves, heating blankets, and other aid.
Nearly a third of the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund’s Standard Allocation, valued at $31 million, is dedicated to winterization.

More funding is needed to meet the needs of communities in winter. The situation is particularly dire in displacement camps where 2 million people reside. 800,000 people are still living in tents unfit to withstand rain, snow and flooding. Over 28,500 families have been moved to dignified shelters, as of mid-December and since March 2022. However, according to the Shelter/Non-Food Items (SNFI) Cluster, unless funding increases, it will take another five years to reach the dignified shelter target at the current rate.