Syrian Arab Republic

Sectoral impact:

The Shelter and Non-Food Items (SNFI) Sector in Syria operates in an acutely fragile context shaped by 14 years of conflict, recurrent displacement, and natural disasters, all amid a severe economic collapse.

An estimated 6.7 million people remain internally displaced, with over 1.5 million living in makeshift shelters, including tents, unfinished buildings, and overcrowded collective centres, far beyond their intended usage capacities. The February 2023 earthquakes further strained conditions, destroying 47,000 homes and displacing more than 50,000 families, compounding already critical shelter and NFI needs.

One-third of Syria’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, while essential infrastructure including, roads, water, electricity, and sanitation facilities remain severely degraded, limiting access to services and delaying recovery.

According to the latest IDP Taskforce report¹, over 1.16 million IDPs have returned², many to damaged, looted, or uninhabitable homes that lack essential NFIs. Meanwhile, more than 1,700 informal settlements face seasonal threats like extreme weather conditions, flooding, snowstorms, and fires, with poor site conditions increasing their exposure to risks.

Poverty now affects over 90 per cent of the population, making it nearly impossible for families to afford basic items or undertake shelter repairs. Women, children, elderly-headed households, and persons with disabilities are especially exposed to protection and health risks due to unsafe, undignified conditions.

Without scaled-up humanitarian support, shelter and NFI gaps will continue to undermine safety, dignity, and recovery. The humanitarian imperative is clear: adequate shelter and basic items are life-saving interventions, requiring timely, coordinated funding and response.

Immediate Needs:

The Shelter and NFI Sector faces a surge in life-threatening needs driven by displacement, deteriorating shelter conditions, and seasonal extremes. Immediate action is essential to stabilize conditions and support recovery.

• Housing Repairs & Rehabilitation: Scale up rapid rehabilitation of damaged homes, especially in sub-districts like Jebel Saman, Madiq Castle, and Ma’arrat An Nu’man to enable durable returns and prevent secondary displacement.
• Rental Support: Expand Cash-for-Rent (CfR) for IDPs and returnees without access to adequate housing, particularly in urban centers and overcrowded host communities.
• Essential NFIs: Distribute blankets, mattresses, solar lighting, and essential supplies, especially in northeast collective centres and northwest camps.
• Tent Replacement and Emergency Kits: Replace tents and provide sealing-off kits for IDPs in substandard shelters or schools. Offer emergency solutions such as shelter kits or reinforcement of unfinished buildings to ensure protection and privacy.
• Basic Infrastructure Rehabilitation: Improve flood mitigation and access roads in camps. Introduce site-level risk reduction (e.g., drainage, windbreaks, insulation) in climate-vulnerable areas.
• Winterization Support: Deliver thermal blankets, heating stoves, weatherproofing materials, and clothing to reduce cold-related health risks for families in poorly insulated shelters.
• Core NFI Kits: Provide mattresses, solar lamps, kitchen sets, jerry cans, and hygiene items, especially in southern Syria, northeast Syria and coastal governorates, prioritizing newly displaced and hard-to-reach areas.
• Camp and Collective Centre Support: Upgrade shelter conditions for over 1 million IDPs in informal sites through tent replacement, insulation, solid flooring, and provision of heating fuel and lighting.
• Collective Infrastructure Improvements: Enhance safety, privacy, and protection in last-resort shelters through communal upgrades.
• Emergency Preparedness: Pre-position shelter and NFI supplies and maintain 48-hour rapid deployment readiness to respond to new displacements.

Early and adequate funding is essential, especially as winter conditions worsen, and new displacements persist. A timely, coordinated response will ensure aid reaches those in need, when and where it is needed most.

Priority Activities:

The SNFI Sector has defined strategically prioritized activities to guide the response, balance emergency relief with recovery, and ensure efficient resource use.

• Emergency Shelter Solutions: Provide immediate shelter kits, family tents, and sealing-off kits for newly displaced or long-term IDPs residing in dilapidated tents. These improve protection, privacy, and dignity while reducing health and protection risks.
• Shelter Rehabilitation and Upgrading: Support progressive repairs for returnee homes, including walls, roofs, doors, windows, and adaptations for persons with specific needs. Use cash-for-shelter or vouchers to stimulate local markets and community recovery. Also support host communities to strengthen cohesion and service access.
• Core and Seasonal NFI Distributions: Implement large-scale distribution of basic household items like blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, and solar lamps. During winter, provide seasonal kits with high-thermal blankets, heating fuel, and stoves. Use cash, vouchers, or in-kind support tailored to market functionality and household needs.
• Collective Centre Upgrades: Phase in improvements for collective centres to enhance privacy, safety, WASH access, and gender-sensitive design, bridging toward durable solutions.
• Contingency Planning and Rapid Response: Maintain pre-positioned stocks and rapid response teams in strategic hubs, enabling deployment within 48 hours of new displacement, conflict escalation, or disasters.

Response Strategy

The Shelter and NFI Sector Sector’s 2025 strategy is anchored in timely, targeted, and coordinated action to deliver life-saving support and build toward durable recovery.

The sector will focus on the most vulnerable returnees and IDPs in hard-to-reach areas, residents of informal settlements, female-headed households, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and those without income, guided by Humanitarian Needs Overview data to ensure maximum impact.

• Geographical focus and integrated response: Interventions will target high displacement and return areas, including northwest and northeast Syria, and coordinate with Protection, WASH, Health, and Early Recovery sectors for a holistic response addressing shelter and essential services.
• Strengthening coordination and local partnerships: Under the One Syria coordination framework, the sector will enhance inter-agency collaboration across Damascus and sub-national hubs, while working closely with local authorities, NGOs, and civil society to improve access, avoid duplication, and address gaps through joint planning and regular coordination.
• Community engagement and capacity building: The strategy emphasizes empowering local actors and affected communities. Activities include training on safe construction, distribution, and risk reduction, with community participation to ensure cultural relevance, accountability, and sustainability.
• Evidence-based and adaptive programming: The sector will use real-time data, post-distribution monitoring, and feedback mechanisms to adapt interventions to evolving needs and emerging gaps, enabling responsive and context-appropriate programming.
• Emergency readiness and risk mitigation: A 48-hour rapid response capacity will be maintained, backed by pre-positioned stocks in key hubs. Risk reduction measures (e.g., drainage, insulation, fire safety) will be integrated into shelter planning to address climate and seasonal hazards in camps and collective sites.

Strategic Objectives: The Shelter and NFI Sector seeks to:

• Preserve life and dignity through provision of emergency shelter and NFIs to families living in unsafe, overcrowded, or weather-exposed settings.
• Enable safe and dignified returns by rehabilitating homes, offering rental support, and improving shelter conditions in areas of return.
• Strengthen emergency preparedness with scalable, coordinated, and pre-positioned capacity to respond to new displacement and shocks.

All interventions will follow a mixed-modality approach-in-kind, cash, or vouchers, tailored to local markets and needs. Programming will be aligned with sector standards and inter-sectoral priorities, and emphasize inclusive, gender and protection-sensitive practices, including adaptations for persons with disabilities and elderly-headed households.