Newly displaced families in northwest Syria face harsh conditions

Newly displaced families in northwest Syria face harsh conditions as winter rains arrive. Around Al-Qah village, about 3km from the Syrian-Turkish border, numerous small informal tented settlements have been set-up by families seeking safety from escalating conflict in southern Rural Idlib.

Since the end of April, more than 400,000 people have been displaced because of violence in the northwest of Syria. Most of these families have fled to areas near the Syrian-Turkish border. The newly displaced families are now facing a particularly harsh winter as they settle into makeshift camps struggling to keep their tents dry and their children warm. Cold temperatures, made worse by the risk of flooding, bring additional hardship to those families sheltering in tents and other informal dwellings.

With 85 per cent of the population in Syria living below the poverty line, the winter months are a trial of hardship and survival for Syrian children. The manifold increase in prices for essential commodities to protect families from the cold, combined with widespread poverty has left many Syrians, especially the displaced, unable to protect their children from the harsh winter conditions.

UNICEF intends to provide life-saving winter kits or cash for warm clothes and supplies to protect up to 578,000 vulnerable babies, boys and girls aged between 0-14 years old across Syria. Through timely procurement and distribution of winter clothing packages, babies and children will be protected from cold weather-related illnesses and fatalities. The assistance will go to children living in camps, collective shelters, host communities and locations of acute need all over Syria.