The Wages of War - Learning from how Syrians have adapted their livelihoods through seven years of conflict
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The scale of death and suffering in Syria is monumental. What began as a peaceful protest in 2011 has spiralled into a humanitarian crisis unprecedented for our modern times: The war has killed as many as 400,000 Syrians and displaced 11 million more. Humanitarian needs remain enormous as the conflict wages on. The UN estimates that 8 in 10 people in Syria — including 6 million children — require humanitarian assistance. The crisis has set Syria’s development back nearly four decades.1 Despite these immense challenges, Mercy Corps’ work in Syria has found that some households are managing the devastating impacts of war better than others. We undertook this research to understand why.
The importance of data from inside the conflict
While existing research has shown how people rebuild their lives and livelihoods after war, little is known about how people cope and adapt in the midst of a conflict. This study builds on an emerging body of evidence that examines the strategies conflict-affected Syrians employ to protect and adapt their lives and livelihoods and how they feed, clothe and shelter their families. The stakes for development organisations are high: Research in crisis settings has shown that when humanitarian actors fail to understand a population’s existing coping strategies, they may inadvertently undermine them.2 Identifying and strengthening the conditions that enable Syrians to improve their household welfare can help us meet them with more responsive humanitarian assistance that strengthens the markets they access and the social connections they depend on.
The findings and recommendations are based on original survey and qualitative research in North, Northeast, and South-Central Syria, and they build on the voice of the Syrian people.
While this research is crucial to understanding how best to meet Syrians where they are, it is imperative above everything else that Syria’s people be able to live in peace again. The men, women and children of Syria will not be able to build stable lives until they no longer have to worry about dodging bombs and bullets. Peace in Syria is essential and must be achieved as soon as possible.