The civil war in Syria began in 2011 and has resulted in the death or injury of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the displacement of over half of the country’s population. Syrians continue to face macroeconomic crises, including currency depreciation, hyperinflation, and mass unemployment. Most displaced people and refugees live in substandard, damaged and/or inadequate shelter conditions that provide little protection against the harsh winter conditions and put lives at grave risk. Compounded by the impacts of devastating earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria in February 2023, numerous have been newly displaced across the affected regions, with the death toll surpassing 50,000 people. The food security situation has deteriorated, with over 12 million Syrians in need of urgent food assistance.
Since February 2023, we have been providing emergency earthquake relief through our local partner’s network of local churches in the northwestern governorates of Syria to meet urgent needs for food and hygiene, reaching over 43,000 highly vulnerable individuals. In the past few years, we have been providing winterisation support, including blankets, boots, jackets, carpets and hats, to over 4,700 crisis-affected families. Furthermore, we have initiated psychosocial support capacity-building training for our local partner staff and volunteers to equip them with basic skills to provide individual and group counselling, or proper referral, to crisis-affected individuals.
