Syria, 15 million people still need humanitarian assistance: the effects of 12 years of war, earthquake, cholera and drought

ROME – In Syria, even before the February earthquakes, 90% of the population lived below the poverty line, which according to an international convention means less than 1.90 dollars a day. An estimated 15.3 million people are therefore currently in need of humanitarian aid. The Ong Action Against Hunger has been working in Syria since 2008. Over the past year, programs have included helping farmers and families through training and support for income-generating activities, repairing and equipping sanitation facilities, expanding mobile clinics and community health networks and improving access to safe water. The humanitarian organization’s emergency teams are working on the ground to help deal with the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the country and the recent cholera epidemic.

Food insecurity rose by 50%. Just today marks 12 years since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, a fact that adds to the last earthquakes that occurred in the night between 5 and 6 February, when there were two very strong tremors that hit the southern area of ​​Turkey and the northern regions of Syria. And then the COVID-19 crisis, the devastated economy, the effects of climate change and, as that wasn’t enough, the recent cholera epidemic, which re-emerged after 13 years. All of this has sent the number of people in need of humanitarian aid and assistance in Syria skyrocketing to 15.3 million. According to estimates, almost the same number of people are food insecure, with an increase of more than 50% in the last three years. Never in the previous decade of conflict have the Syrian population been hungrier.

The water crisis. Two years ago, the worst drought in 70 years decimated agricultural production, showing the severity of the country’s water crisis and the effects of climate change. But following the earthquakes, the risk of widespread food insecurity in Syria has skyrocketed. Action Against Hunger is working across the country with hunger prevention programs, restoring vital health, nutrition, water, sanitation and sanitation services. “We are really vulnerable people who need everything to live as human beings again,” says Abu, a man in his 40s who lives with his wife and four children in a small village. He is one of the people who have returned home. When they returned to their village they found that everything they had in their house had been stolen: “We just have a damaged tank that we use to store the water we buy from the truck every week.”

Seven million people on the run. Twelve years later, nearly seven million Syrians inside the country are internally displaced, fleeing the conflict and unable to access basic necessities such as food, shelter, water and sanitation, shelter, basic sanitation or work. This is the case of Reem, a girl who lives in rural northern Syria, and her family. “I’m seven years old and I’ve never been to school. I’m supposed to be in second grade, but last year we moved to another village and this year the school burned down.” Before being destroyed, her village school was used as an ammunition depot. It was the last available school facility in the area.

Collapsing infrastructure. In Syria, basic services and other damaged infrastructure are on the verge of collapse, so much so that a third of the population has less than two hours of electricity a day. Furthermore, fuel shortages, currency fluctuations and rising inflation are eroding the purchasing power of the population: it is estimated that 75-80% of families do not have sufficient income to cover basic needs. Action Against Hunger continues to provide a multi-sectoral response including assisting farmers and families through training and support for income-generating activities, repairing and equipping sanitation facilities, expanding mobile clinics and community sanitation networks and improving access to drinking water through the restoration of water and sanitation infrastructure.

Who is Action against hunger. It is an international humanitarian organization specialized in the fight against child hunger and malnutrition. We work to save the lives of severely malnourished children and to provide entire communities with water, food, education and healthcare to live free from hunger. It mobilizes to push people and governments to collective action against the structural causes of this unacceptable injustice. They have been intervening for 40 years in 51 countries around the world, using almost 90% of the funds raised in the field.