Syrian Arab Republic

Humanitarian Situation

Updated March 2013
Covering the period 1 January through 30 June 2013, which corresponds to the United Nations Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan 3

March 2013 will mark the start of a third year of conflict in Syria. An estimated four million people are affected of which more than half are children. Approximately 70,000 people have died since a popular uprising that began in March 2011 developed into an armed conflict between Government forces and various opposition groups, including the Free Syrian Army. Throughout the entire country, people are directly or indirectly affected with Aleppo, rural Damascus, Deir Az Zor, Homs, Idlib and Ar-Raqqa the most significantly impacted of the 14 governorates. Vulnerabilities are likely to increase beyond 2013 as violence and the destruction of essential infrastructures have left more than two million persons, including more than 920,000 children, internally displaced and lacking basic social services. Additionally, the number of Syrians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries reached more than one million¹ (registered and pending registration) in early March 2013.

Children make up about half of the affected population with 1,840,000 under 18 years old including more than half a million under five in Syria. They continue to suffer the most as traditional protective environments such as homes and schools have been destroyed or severely damaged. Children are exposed to increasing levels of violence and human rights violations including the use of children in conflict and sexual violence. School attendance rates and quality of education has significantly declined, with girls believed to be particularly impacted. In conflict affected areas, residents have only one-third the water supplies of pre-crisis levels. More than half of the county’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed as well. The lack of clean water and inadequate shelter, deteriorating food security, limited health services including reduced access to immunization for children, has left children and women vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and protection risks.

Results in 2013

UNICEF is scaling up its response, expanding operations and focusing on cross-line areas through various interventions. A second campaign, starting in mid-April 2013, will immunize three million children under five across Syria against measles and polio complemented with Vitamin A supplementation. Into 2013, more than 421,000 women and children continue to benefit from access to essential health services. Scale-up plans include expanding the number of mobile health units from 8 to 47 to reach additional children across 12 governorates in 2013. Since January 2013, UNICEF scaled-up its cross-line humanitarian response across Syria and dispatched essential supplies for 175,000 people in Aleppo, Deir Az Zor, Homs, Quneitra, Lattakia, Dara’a, Hassakeh, Hama, A’tmeh, and Idlib with blankets, quilts, family and baby hygiene kits, children’s clothes, high energy biscuits, plastic mats and tarpaulins. To date, UNICEF has provided sustainable access to safe water to more than 41,000 people through water tankering and the rehabilitation and maintenance of water systems complemented by sanitation and hygiene support, including in schools and health facilities. This includes an additional 29,000 people in 2013. In an effort to prevent and limit the transmission of water-borne diseases, UNICEF is working with partners in supporting water chlorination efforts which are ensuring more than four million people in Aleppo, Homs, Idlib, Damascus city, Ar-Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, Lattakia, Tartus and Hama have access to safe water, with an aim to reach 10 million beneficiaries for three months in all governorates. UNICEF has provided an additional 100,000 emergency affected people with hygiene items in 2013. Access to psychosocial support is being scaled up through child-friendly spaces, school clubs and remedial classes as well as mobile clinics. To date, 32,000 children continue benefiting from access to psychosocial support services on a monthly basis. In addition, 53,000 children gained access to psychosocial support through education programmes in 2013, plus 23,000 children already enrolled from 2012. Education support continues to be provided through school clubs to about 75,000 school-aged children in affected areas, of which 52,000 were enrolled in 2013. The winter months, from November to March, continue to be especially difficult for children as they are at heightened risk of acute respiratory infections and influenza given overcrowded living and hygiene conditions and lack of electricity in some areas. UNICEF’s winterization programme continues to prioritize vulnerable and displaced children and family members, reaching about 300,000 people since 2012 with blankets and quilts, family and baby hygiene kits, food baskets and other essential items. Given the deteriorating food security and indications of nutritional vulnerability among children arriving in camps, UNICEF will be providing more than 268,000 IDP children with micronutrient supplementation to prevent moderate and severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF’s January to June 2013 targets presented in this document reflect planning adjustments made in light of the fast changing context to address the increasing humanitarian needs. Funding requirements will be increased as part of the upcoming inter-agency revision of the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP).

UNICEF funding requirements for 2013

Based on the inter-agency Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP) led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UNICEF requests US$68,440,000 to meet the needs of children in Syria during the first six months of 2013. As of 6 March, these requirements are 22 per cent funded (US$14,920,000). Against the funding appeal made in 2012 for SHARP2 (September–December 2012), UNICEF received approximately US$17,800,000 (40.5 per cent) as of mid-December 2012 against the total US$44,090,000 requested.

UNICEF is the provider of last resort for humanitarian response, particularly in WASH, education and nutrition, and co-leads the child protection sector. Funding received to date, for which UNICEF extends it gratitude to donor partners, has provided over 1.8 million women and children in Syria with support across all sectors. However, without immediate and flexible funding, UNICEF will be unable to provide life-saving support to millions of people adversely impacted by the crisis. In addition, given the slow resolution of the conflict and the likelihood of further violence, additional children may be at risk. Any need to scale up further will be extremely challenging.