Analysis of the context, crisis, and needs
In 2023, the Syria crisis will enter its twelfth year, still being one of the world’s largest refugee crises, with over 7.4 million Syrians living in Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt — the five countries covered by the Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP). Many of these refugees have been displaced for more than a decade, and the protracted nature of the crisis has had a significant impact on public services and infrastructure in host countries, including housing, education, health care, waste management, water and sanitation.
Socioeconomic conditions in host countries have been further impacted by multiple compounding crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, climate change, and political and economic challenges in some of the 3RP countries. Recent assessments show that poverty rates have significantly increased among refugees and host communities. The slight economic growth seen in certain countries in 2021 following the pandemic has slowed and is expected to continue to do so in 2023. The Ukraine crisis has contributed to increased food and energy prices across the region, with Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt particularly impacted owing to their high dependency on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. In Lebanon, where high inflation, currency devaluation and a high unemployment rate contribute to a fragile economic situation, refugee-related issues are being increasingly politicized.
The worsening situation for Syrian refugees has again been highlighted by needs assessments conducted in the 3RP countries.
According to the Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, most households cannot meet their basic needs, and 58 per cent of Syrian refugee families live in inadequate and unsafe shelters. Moreover, despite the assistance provided by the 3RP partners, 88 per cent of Syrian refugee households were still below the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket compared to 55 per cent in 2019. Humanitarian assistance is still the main source of income for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many of whom are unemployed or not adequately compensated for their work. Meanwhile, Jordan’s Vulnerability Assessment Framework found that 64 per cent of families had to buy food on credit in 2021 compared to 45 per cent in 2018. It also noted that refugees resort to drastic measures, such as reducing food consumption or purchasing lower-quality food. According to the latest Inter-agency Protection Needs Assessment in Türkiye, 90 per cent of refugees cannot fully cover their monthly expenses or basic needs, while 94 per cent have adopted a survival strategy to cope, including reduction of food expenditures and consumption as well as borrowing money.
Additionally, the limited capacity or lack of access to social safety nets in some 3RP countries especially impacts the most vulnerable people. It has resulted in families resorting to harmful coping strategies, such as meal reduction, child labour and child marriage.
The protracted nature of the Syria crisis, combined with a difficult socioeconomic context in most 3RP countries, makes the maintenance of social cohesion an essential part of the response. However, mitigating tensions between communities are becoming increasingly challenging. Moreover, climate change has contributed to more frequent droughts and exacerbated tensions over scarce natural resources, especially in Iraq and Jordan. This, in turn, has affected access to food and livelihood opportunities.
This situation highlights the importance of continued, predictable funding for the 3RP response to ensure the safety and dignity of refugees and affected host communities, especially in a challenging funding environment. In 2021, the 3RP recorded the lowest level of funding since its inception in 2015. This trend is expected to continue this year. By the end of September 2022, only 29 per cent of the regional appeal was funded. This is a much lower level than at the same time in previous years. This reduced funding stands in stark contrast to the projected increase in needs and vulnerabilities among refugees and host communities.
Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Om Ghazi lost loved ones to the conflict in Syria. She now spends Ramadan in a refugee camp.
UNHCRProjected situation in 2023 and beyond
Due to the protracted displacement of Syrians and the multi-faceted crises in the region, socioeconomic conditions among refugees and host communities are likely to deteriorate further, increasing poverty rates and tension incidents in the host countries. The Ukraine crisis and other human-caused shocks are expected to further increase vulnerabilities and risks due to their effect on social stability. Climate change will multiply these challenges by impacting natural resources, particularly water, in the short term and health and food security in the mid to long term. The cholera outbreak in some parts of the region will be a concern in 2023, but health needs related to COVID-19 are likely to continue to decrease. However, the pandemic’s socioeconomic impacts will continue to be felt in several 3RP countries. Despite these challenges in the host countries, current intention data suggests that the number of refugees returning to Syria is likely to remain stable — only 1.7 per cent of Syrian refugees surveyed said they intend to return home in the next 12 months.
To respond to these needs, close to 16 million people in 3RP countries are projected to require assistance in 2023. They include around 6.9 Syrian refugees, 556,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of other nationalities and stateless persons and 8.4 million impacted host-community members. The 3RP response will pay specific regard to the needs of the most vulnerable people.
Syrian Arab Republic Regional
Strategic Objectives and sectoral priorities
Over 270 partners across the five 3RP countries will continue to support and complement governments’ ongoing efforts to assist refugees and vulnerable individuals in host communities and strengthen public institutions’ capacity to provide access to quality basic services. The ‘One Refugee’ approach, the Global Compact on Refugees, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will continue to inform the 3RP’s integrated, non-discriminatory response with a long-term, solutions-orientated approach.
The 3RP response in 2023 will continue to progress four regional strategic directions:
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Protecting people: Protection is at the heart of the 3RP response. Partners will continue to work to keep refugees and vulnerable host-community members safe from exploitation, abuse, violence and psychosocial distress, and to support survivors. Access to legal aid and documentation will help people to live dignified lives and access basic services. In addition, strengthening gender-based violence prevention, mitigation and response, increasing the scale and scope of specialized child-protection services, and expanding community protection and refugee-host-community cohesion will also remain important priorities.
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Promoting durable solutions: 3RP partners will continue to work towards durable solutions in line with international standards and frameworks. In particular, the 3RP strives to advance local opportunities for inclusion, where applicable, according to the context of each 3RP country, including by fostering ‘resilience for all’ and coordination across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. It will also promote the expansion of complementary pathways and resettlement opportunities, and support voluntary, safe and dignified returns by ensuring that refugees can make informed and voluntary decisions about their preferred solution.
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Contributing to dignified lives: Supporting refugees and vulnerable individuals to access protection and basic services and ensure food security will remain a priority for 3RP partners. The 3RP response will continue to improve the minimum standard of housing of the most affected communities (e.g. through shelter upgrades or rental subsidies) to increase the employability of refugees and vulnerable host-community members (e.g. through trainings, internships and career guidance), in addition to expanding economic opportunities for refugees and host communities more broadly. Furthermore, there is an increasing focus on enhancing refugees’ self-reliance by enabling them to access education, health care, social protection programmes and sustainable livelihoods.
- Enhancing local and national capacities: To enhance access to services for refugees and vulnerable host-community members, as well as to strengthen social cohesion, supporting national and local capacities is essential. In line with the Grand Bargain commitment, 3RP partners will continue to advance localization by empowering local and national authorities, promoting community ownership, and supporting local partners, including civil-society organizations and businesses. Moreover, activities to strengthen the private sector’s capacities to create and maintain decent employment opportunities will be put in place.
Jubaiha, Jordan
Rose receives her polio vaccination at Jubaiha Medical Centre.
UNICEF/Bashar Al-Ja'bariDisability inclusion, accountability to affected populations, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) are crucial elements of the 3RP response. The 3RP is guided by the principle of leaving no one behind, which not only entails reaching the most vulnerable populations but also addresses the intersecting inequalities that hinder affected communities’ access to services, resources and equal opportunities. Through applying community-based approaches across sectors, the 3RP will enhance the participation and inclusion of refugees and host communities and strengthen accountability mechanisms that enable effective engagement with populations of different ages, genders and backgrounds, receiving their feedback and complaints, and providing timely responses. Response efforts will also continue to enhance measures to provide protection from and response to SEA across sectors through capacity-building of the 3RP partners, awareness-raising among the communities, victim-centred assistance through safe referrals to GBV response services, reinforcement of the PSEA focal points network, and boosting of coordination mechanisms.
References
- Refugees in Jordan face escalating challenges as Syria conflict marks 10-year anniversary – UNHCR Jordan; ECHO Factsheet - Jordan (10/05/2022) - Jordan | ReliefWeb; UN: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Struggle to Survive Amid Worst Socio- economic Crisis in Decades (unicef.org); LCRP-2022_FINAL.pdf (3rpsyriacrisis.org); https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000137875/download/; ECHO Factsheet - Egypt (Last updated 27/07/2022) - Egypt | ReliefWeb