Syria 11

The crisis continues to leave Syrian children with psychological scars. Last year, one-third of children in Syria showed signs of psychological distress including anxiety, sadness, fatigue, or frequent trouble sleeping.

The situation for many children and families remains precarious, with over 90 per cent of people in Syria live in poverty and 12 million people (54 per cent of the population) are food insecure. An increase of 51 per cent since 2019.

Eleven years of conflict has had a staggering impact on the children of Syria: 

• 85 per cent of internally displaced households have taken on more debt to cope with poor living conditions.
• The price of the average food basket increased by 97 per cent in December 2021 compared to December 2020.
• The value of Syrian currency dropped by 36 per cent since September 2020.
• Only 2 per cent of heads of households confirmed their ability to meet the basic needs of all members.
• Deteriorating living conditions are forcing families to adopt harmful coping mechanisms across Syria. Families are sending their children to work instead of school. Girls and boys face the risk of early or forced marriage.
• 17 per cent of internally displaced households report one or more out-of-school children in their household.
• One-third of the households report that children show signs of psychological distress.
• In Jordan, the COVID-19 crisis increased poverty by around 38 percentage points among Jordanians, and by 18 percentage points among Syrian refugees who were already in a worse situation.
• The region’s GDP recovery in 2021 has been at a slow rate, with Lebanon still suffering a loss of 8.5 per cent of its GDP.