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Current Requirements (US$)$5.41 billion
Analysis of the context, crisis and needs
After 11 years of crisis, most Syrian continue to face a context of continuing humanitarian decline. The country still has the largest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world (6.8 million people), the largest number of people in need since the crisis began, humanitarian indicators that continue to deteriorate, basic services that are collapsing, an ongoing cholera outbreak, economic indicators that are worsening, and climatic and human-caused shocks that compound an already dire situation. This multitude of challenges makes Syria one of the world’s most complex humanitarian and protection emergencies. As a result, at least 15.3 million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2023, with needs that keep increasing across all sectors. These people include over 1.8 million IDPs living in 1,421 last-resort IDP sites in north-west Syria, and 278,400 IDPs who reside in over 260 sites in north-east Syria.
The crippled economy, which is characterized by high inflation, currency depreciation and increases in the prices of commodities, remains one of the biggest drivers of need. It drives more people towards poverty, makes them more reliant on humanitarian assistance, increases resort to harmful coping mechanisms and increases the cost of response. The economic decline creates a compounding impact on food security and access to services. According to the Multi-Sector Needs Assessment, by August 2022, the average household expenditure exceeded the average household income by 60 per cent, compared to 49 per cent in 2021, despite 94 per cent of households having an employed head of household. All the population groups identified in the Humanitarian Needs Overview are worse off in 2022 than they were in 2021.
Aleppo, Syria
Abeer is a mother of five from Deir Hafer, in rural Aleppo. Her husband was killed, and she decided to return to her town soon after the security situation began to improve. But she found her home destroyed. Abeer applied for a small business grant through UNHCR and now runs a small mini mart.
UNHCR/Bassam DiabIn 2022, Syria faced a severe and long-term drought, resulting in poor growing conditions that reflect the persistence of drier-than-normal rainy seasons. Unusually dry conditions during the wet season and abnormally high temperatures have exacerbated water deficits. This, combined with low water levels in the Euphrates River and damaged water infrastructure, has not only reduced access to water for drinking and domestic use for millions of Syrians, but also triggered substantial harvest and income losses, an increase in waterborne diseases and malnutrition rates, and additional protection risks, especially for women and girls. In September 2022, a cholera outbreak was declared, affecting all 14 of Syria’s governorates.
Households indicate that food, electricity assistance and livelihood support are among their top three unmet needs.
Building resilience and re-establishing lives
A UN Joint Programme on urban and rural resilience in Syria is putting resilience-building and emergency assistance into practice.
The programme, which includes six UN agencies, has been piloted in two of the most heavily devastated parts of Syria: Dara’a in the south and Deir-ez-Zor in the east. Deir-ez-Zor has suffered from high levels of food insecurity and drought and a loss of agricultural production due to decreased rainfall.
FAO and WFP are running a joint project to rehabilitate the irrigation system and enhance food security on the rural side of Deir-ez-Zor, an area known as Sector 5. The ripple effects of this type of early recovery intervention have become clear. With reliable water management systems, farmers were able to restore their agricultural outputs, produce their own food and increase household income from local markets. Eighteen months ago, all four villages within Sector 5 were entirely reliant on food assistance and emergency handouts, this has now reduced to 15 per cent of the population in this area.
In urban settings, early recovery and resilience are also delivering visible results. On Cinema Fouad Street in central Deir-ez-Zor, named after the old cinema that once stood there, every corner was destroyed and there were no traces of human activity. But the street is now transformed thanks to the Joint Programme’s investments in health care, schools, solar lighting and small businesses. Restaurants are buzzing, lights are on, life has returned to the city.
This type of intervention signals something much greater than a simple restoration of infrastructure; it boosted confidence in the area, and it showed how people are using their own resources to return, rebuild and re-establish their lives.
Projected situation in 2023 and beyond
In 2022, the key drivers of humanitarian need in Syria were related to conflict, economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the water crisis and drought-like conditions. In 2023, localized hostilities, the economic crisis, the water crisis and public health emergencies, including cholera and climate-related situations, are expected to remain the main drivers of humanitarian need, with downward trends across all drivers. In addition, international and regional geopolitical dynamics could have serious implications on needs across the country, especially in case of a non-renewal of the UN Security Council resolution authorizing the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to parts of the country. Large-scale return of refugees is unlikely despite political pressure from some corners.
For IDPs inside camps, the main factors determining vulnerability and severity of needs are their displacement status, limited livelihood opportunities in camps, and the poor shelter and overcrowding conditions they live under.
For IDPs outside camps, the main factors determining vulnerability and severity of needs are increased shelter assistance needs and lack of access to non-food items (NFIs), combined with limited access to basic services and infrastructures.
Karm Al-Zayton Camp, Syria
Maryam is displaced and living at the Karm Al-Zayton camp, in the southern countryside of Aleppo. She sews to provide bread for her children, and she teaches other women so that they can provide for their families.
OCHA/Fadi Al-ShamiFor returnees, the main factors of vulnerability and severity of needs are the lack of access to NFIs and electricity, combined with the increased need for shelter repairs, in addition to needs arising from return-related security concerns.
For residents, the main factors determining vulnerability and severity of needs are multiple and widespread. Residents' needs are increasingly linked to the deterioration of the macroeconomic situation combined with the continued lack of access to basic services and infrastructure due to years of conflict.
In all of the above-mentioned four population groups, women-headed households were found to have higher economic vulnerability than households headed by men. Women-headed households have higher food needs and are, on average, more likely to report security concerns, highlighting the gendered nature of the risks faced by households in Syria.
Aleppo, Syria
Children in Aleppo prepare to meet the Humanitarian Coordinator and a delegation from the European Union during a visit in August 2022.
UNHCRResponse priorities in 2023
In 2022, the humanitarian community moved to a two-year plan covering 2022 and 2023. In 2023, the response will continue to address the key drivers of needs, including protection threats, continued rights violations, accelerating economic deterioration, limited or unavailable basic services, and environmental shocks. In a context of rising needs, humanitarian partners will prioritize addressing people’s most urgent needs, including by expanding critically required livelihood support as well as access to basic services, through investments in critical civilian infrastructure required for service delivery, among other approaches. In so doing, humanitarian partners hope to prevent a deteriorating situation for millions of people currently living with moderate humanitarian needs, reduce structural vulnerabilities of communities and strengthen their resilience.