Syrian Arab Republic

Sectoral impact:

• The shelter and non-food items (SNFI) sector in Syria continues to face critical challenges. The protracted conflict and natures of the crises in Syria, coupled with recent shocks, have increased needs and the vulnerability of displaced populations, straining capacity to provide adequate shelter solutions and non-food item (NFI) needs.
• The ongoing conflict in Syria has led to significant and prolonged displacement, resulting in 8 million IDPs. In 2024, a total of 823,302 individuals were displaced, with 522,600 of them returning in December alone. The high number of IDPs has intensified severe overcrowding in displacement sites, increasing the urgent need for emergency shelters, NFIs as well as repairs and rehabilitation of existing shelters. Currently, approximately 2.3 million people are residing in 1,774 displacement sites in northern Syria.
• Damage to critical infrastructure expands gaps for affected populations, including water supply systems, sewage networks, roads, and essential service facilities. This hampers the delivery of basic services as well as complicating overall shelter response efforts.
• Multiple recent warehouse lootings have led to a severe disruption in the distribution operations of NFIs and a substantial shortage of essential supplies. Availability is further challenged as necessary approvals are negotiated for the dispatch of items as well as shelter projects, especially the rehabilitation of damaged houses.

Immediate needs:

• Urgent housing repair and rehabilitation for refugee returnee and IDP returnee families who have returned to their areas of origin and found their homes looted or partially damaged, and alternative shelter activities such as renting support for those who found their houses totally damaged.
• High demand for NFIs among refugee returnees, IDP returnee families, displaced families in hosting communities, and IDPs living in sites, including critical relief items, coupled with a critical shortage of essential household items like blankets, mattresses, and solar lighting, immediate winterization support, heating solutions, and ensuring nutritional needs are being met with cooking stoves/fuel and kitchen sets. NFI gaps remain, and heating gaps in 199 emergency collective centres in north-east Syria, and a severe lack of suitable clothing and footwear for all age groups, adapted to the changing climate.
• Establishment of alternative shelter options for IDPs in the north-east who are sheltered in schools, or temporary education facilities to minimize the impact on schooling. Emergency shelter support to the emergency collective centres, such as the provision of sealing-off kits to ensure adequate protection until alternatives are found.
• Provide emergency shelter and NFI assistance to IDPs in north-west Syria camps through tent replacement, NFI distribution, winterization support, and placement of vulnerable families living in tents who cannot return home into existing vacant transitional shelters. Additionally, provide shelter and NFI support—including housing repairs and rehabilitation—to vulnerable returning families whose homes were looted or partially damaged, and offer rental assistance to those whose houses were completely destroyed.
• Essential infrastructure rehabilitation and services to achieve functional living conditions.

Implementation of risk reduction measures for areas exposed to climate hazards

Priority activities:

• Strengthen coordination between three hubs, especially crosscutting hub areas in northern Syria.
• Distribution of core NFIs and winter NFIs.
• Installation of new tents or the replacement of existing tents.
• Delivering financial support for rent payments.
• Implementation of minor repairs to damaged or unfinished housing.
• Rehabilitation of damaged or unfinished housing.
• Provision of transitional shelter for those with destroyed homes.
• Flood risk reduction in IDP sites, and the implementation of environmentally conscious NFI distribution and waste management practices.
• Provision of sealing-off kits and light rehabilitation of emergency collective centres, to ensure safe conditions before alternatives are found.

Response strategy:

The SNFI sector aims to provide life-saving support through timely, targeted, and appropriate emergency shelter and NFI assistance. This includes strengthening the logistics and supply chain to ensure efficient and secure delivery of NFIs, despite security and access challenges, improve resilience, and enhance the protection environment by implementing housing repair and rehabilitation projects at the household level through:

• Providing lifesaving and life-sustaining NFI support to the most vulnerable individuals to enhance domestic activity and mitigate harsh winter conditions.
• Strengthening housing conditions for the most vulnerable individuals living in damaged buildings or shelters.
• Rapid response to sudden emergencies that cause displacement due to conflict or environmental hazards.

In last resort sites, the SNFI sector will focus on urgent needs for repair or replacing emergency shelters through a comprehensive shelter-level assessment. SNFI will collaborate with the CCCM, protection, ERL, and WASH sectors to carry out actions at both the site and household levels. These actions will aim to reduce flood and fire risks, improve access to basic services for households, and enhance community infrastructure to lower protection risks.

Outside of IDP sites, the SNFI sector will prioritize and implement key household-level interventions according to sector guidelines, collaborating with the protection, ERL, and WASH sectors. These interventions include minor repairs, rehabilitation of damaged housing, and cash for shelter to improve safety and security, provide protection from the elements, ensure privacy, and uphold the dignity of the most vulnerable individuals. Exploring the feasibility of cash-based interventions or voucher programs for NFI procurement, where market conditions allow, as well as minor repair and rehabilitation, will be undertaken through both owner-led cash-based approaches and the traditional contractor-based modality. Shelter partners, funding permitting, will provide specifically tailored interventions for the elderly and persons with a physical disability to enhance mobility to and within the shelter.

The SNFI sector will utilize monthly 4Ws, PDM, field monitoring visits, and focus group discussions to improve accountable, high-quality, and inclusive programming, and will actively engage with local communities to ensure that NFI distributions are aligned with their specific needs and preferences and aligned with strategic priorities and technical guidance.

In addition, expanding post distribution monitoring to include detailed analysis of shelter and NFI usage, satisfaction, and impact, conducted by both sector partners and community members.