North-West Syria: Situation Report (15 Mar 2024) [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

  • After 13 years of conflict, the humanitarian situation in north-west Syria is at its worst. 3.4 million people are internally displaced - up from 2.9 million people last year.

  • Almost half of the 4.2 million people in need are children, many of whom live in overcrowded camps. 89 per cent of children in north-west Syria require protection assistance.

  • Active hostilities have killed at least seven civilians, including one child, and injured 31 others in the first two months of 2024, reported local health authorities.

  • Early recovery support is ongoing to address protracted needs. Over 31,000 families have been moved out of tents into dignified shelters over the past two years.

  • The cross-border response is facing the worst funding crisis in its history. Critical functions of nine hospitals were temporarily suspended last year due to funding shortfalls.

FEATURE

Syrian children are bearing the brunt of a 13-year-old conflict

While the world celebrated the arrival of 2024, communities in north-west Syria saw the continuation of another year embroiled in conflict. Syria somberly marks 13 years of conflict on 15 March.

In 2024, 4.2 million people in north-west Syria depend on humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic needs - the majority are women and children. 86 per cent of the population require protection assistance while nearly 80 per cent of the population require health assistance – a third of them under the “catastrophic” category which is the worst in severity.

After 13 years of conflict, coupled with continuing deteriorating economic conditions and food shortages, families are increasingly pushed to the edge of breaking point. Nearly half of households in north-west Syria reported loss of job or unemployment as a barrier to meeting basic needs.

There are now 3.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs), marking an increase of over 500,000 people from last year. As of the end of February, some 43,000 people who were displaced by the earthquakes have not returned home including some 40,000 people residing in 70 reception centers. Living conditions remain harsh in over 1,500 displacement camps and informal sites where 2 million people live and are exposed to constant threats of flooding in winter and extreme heat in summer. Nearly 60 per cent of camp and informal site residents are children.

Syrian children are bearing the brunt of this crisis.

A whole generation of children – now teenagers – have grown up knowing only war and displacement. The mental toll of the crisis was further stretched by last year’s earthquakes. Today, 89 per cent of over 2 million children in north-west Syria require child protection assistance including psychosocial support and tailored services to safeguard from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and other harmful practices. As many as 1.5 million children, adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women in north-west Syria require nutrition assistance.

The conflict also has a devastating impact on children’s education. At least 1 million school-aged children do not go to school in north-west Syria. According to the Humanitarian Needs Overview, Idleb has the highest percentage of out-ofschool children among all governorates in Syria. Those who do have access to education, whether formal or nonformal, have their learning frequently disrupted by hostilities and temporary displacements.

“We are living in camps where there is barely any food, water or anything else,” said 55-year-old Hamida who shares a tent with her family in Sarmada.

She looked back on 2023 as a “terrible year” with people losing their loved ones to the earthquakes on top of constant fear of hostilities.

Last October saw an escalation of hostilities in Idleb and western Aleppo that temporarily displaced over 120,000 people. This was the most significant escalation in north-west Syria since 2019. More than 100 people were killed, nearly 40 per cent were children, and over 440 others were injured, according to local health authorities. While incidents have largely shifted to frontline areas by mid-January 2024, they continue to be reported almost daily.

“I only wish that everyone could safely return to their towns and villages and nothing more,” grieved Hamid.