Syrian Arab Republic

  • Humanitarian Response Priorities
  • From: 01/01/2025 to: 31/03/2025
  • Published: 28/01/2025
  • Coordinated by: OCHA

Syrian Arab Republic Humanitarian Response Priorities – January-March 2025 / Part 4 : Sector needs and response

3.1 Protection

People in need
9.7 million
People targeted
2.9 million
Requirements (US$)
$23.8 million

Sectoral impact:

  • Syria’s multi-faceted crisis continues to generate protection risks. The civilian population has continued to face violations of IHL and IHRL, while other populations face limitations on freedom of movement. Following the December events, criminality has been on the rise while the general security situation in several areas remains precarious. These events came on the back of a year that had seen a steady rise in security incidents affecting civilians.
  • Continued conflict or natural disaster risks are likely to continue to generate displacement in parts of the country, while many IDPs are expected to continue to face various barriers to return or reintegration.
  • Cyclical displacement and exposure to violence, compounded with the unstable security situation in parts of the country, has been inflicting deep psychological effects on IDPs. This has given rise to an urgent need to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) service provision across Syria, including preventing people from resorting to harmful coping mechanisms.
  • Access to legal services will remain constrained until the justice system is strengthened. This has included recent looting, which has affected the functionality of courts and civil registries and therefore limited access to critical legal services.
  • Lack of civil documentation, including linked to establishing housing, land and property (HLP) rights, remains prevalent and needs are likely to increase as more Syrians seek to return home and reconstruction efforts commence.
  • The precarious economic situation and constrained social services exacerbate protection risks, including for ethnic minorities, PWD, the elderly, adolescent boys and girls, persons without civil documentation, widows, and single-headed households.
  • Recent changes may also result in the creation or identification of new vulnerable groups, such as ex-detainees or persons of specific profiles at a local/regional level.

Immediate needs:

  • Provision of information on access to protection services and awareness-raising on a range of protection topics, particularly for newly displaced or returned populations.
  • Mitigating protection risks for particularly vulnerable groups or those at heightened risk, including persons with specific needs, individuals who have been detained, and former military personnel who have experienced extreme stress or trauma. There may also be specific protection needs for those newly displaced, who live in camps or temporary shelters, or those returning to areas where they lack social connections.
  • Support for access to civil documentation for displaced or vulnerable populations and for IDP/refugee returnees, as well as access to HLP and legal information, counselling and services.
  • Provision of MHPSS will remain a critical need for significant sections of the civilian population after cyclical or long-term displacement, exposure to violence, family separation and other violations.
  • Extending protection services to newly returned or displaced populations including in hard-to-reach areas.
  • Protection monitoring (including in the context of returns), needs assessments, and analysis should be enhanced as new patterns of risk may emerge, to act as an early warning and as populations continue to move/return.
  • Housing, land and property issues will become critical, including damaged and destroyed land and property, secondary occupation, land confiscation, ownership disputes, use of resources, inheritance and access to HLP documents. These will become critical in the context of increased returns, shelter rehabilitation, and, going forward, reconstruction.
  • Building the capacity of newly established authorities on core protection principles and standards of protection work, the IDP guiding principles.
  • Supporting social cohesion and communities’ capacities on peaceful resolution of conflict, mediation and arbitration.

Priority activities:

  • Maintain and strengthen community-based centres and facilities providing protection services, information on services and as a hub for the community. Mobile approaches will remain critical particularly as populations return to hard-to-reach or previously inaccessible areas.
  • Provision of information on rights, entitlements, services and awareness-raising on protection issues.
  • Identification, referral and, if appropriate, provision of protection case management and specialized protection services and/or tailored support (in-kind or cash) for vulnerable or at-risk individuals / households, including PWD.
  • Provision of psychological first aid and structured psychosocial support.
  • Provision of legal counselling and assistance on access to civil documentation and HLP rights to address issues of secondary occupation, destruction and eviction as more people will be returning and seeking access to their properties.
  • Strengthen coordination amongst protection actors including at sub-national level: including harmonising and implementing protection monitoring tools to identify needs and trends and analyse the protection environment and affected populations, strengthening services mapping and strengthening referral mechanisms within and between hubs.
  • Building the capacity of duty-bearers and other stakeholders on protection and solutions.

Response strategy:

Partners will continue to rely on a network of static facilities while seeking to expand the provision of integrated services in such facilities. Modalities remain flexible and adaptable to local contexts and evolving needs. Reaching newly displaced or returned populations including through mobile services will become even more critical.

The sector seeks to work with and alongside communities and relies on community-based approaches including a large network of community volunteers. The sector aims to expand outreach protection activities in communities, including areas of new return and to ensure (continued) provision of protection services in IDP sites or newly accessible areas.

The sector aims to support communities’ resilience, social cohesion and capacities, including through support to community led initiatives, while supporting efforts for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustained solutions to displacement. The sector will contribute to an early recovery approach adopted by the humanitarian community in Syria and support other sectors on protection integration and mainstreaming.

The sector will seek to strengthen individual protection assistance through preventive and responsive material and financial assistance to households and individuals at risk, especially in situations of emergency for individuals exposed to hostilities and forced displacement in formal and informal sites/collective sites/collective accommodation.

The sector aims to engage in evidence-based advocacy with all stakeholders, notably national and local authorities, to draw attention to protection issues, inform the response, and enhance the protective environment. To support this, the sector will seek to harmonise and strengthen protection monitoring systems, data collection and analysis at national level, and seek to adjust coordination capacities as the operational environment continues to evolve.

Child Protection AoR

People in need
6.7 million
People targeted
0.6 million
Requirements (US$)
$19.9 million

Sectoral impact:

Limited access to basic services continues to significantly affect the physical, mental, and social well-being of children and caregivers.

There is enormous mental distress for children who have experienced conflict and seen their caregivers killed or injured. Some have been the victims or survivors of violence, and others have been witnesses to it.

There are risks of violence, abuse and neglect, including gender-based violence, child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, children in detention, and vulnerabilities to family separation.

Grave violations against children remain a major concern, including the risk of being killed, injured, recruited, and used in hostilities.

Immediate needs:

  • MHPSS for children and caregivers, including children recently released from detention.
  • Social and economic community reintegration needs for children. This includes reintegration programs for children formerly in detention and those formerly associated with armed groups.
  • Measures to address all forms of abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation across Syria, including PSEA, GBV, social norms, etc.
  • Scaling up case management support to respond to victims of abuse, violence and neglect, as well as for family tracing and reunification.
  • Justice for children, including children in detention and those in contact with the law.
  • Adequate child protection capacity for child protection partners.
  • Solutions for inadequate shelters, lack of safe play areas, high physical safety risk, and landmine contamination in areas of returnees.

Priority activities:

  • Provide age- and gender-appropriate child protection services for children who have experienced or are at risk of abuse, exploitation, or neglect. This includes MHPSS, case management and positive parenting.
  • Mentorship and capacity-building to strengthen information management (IM) systems and reporting for partners.
  • Raise awareness about child protection issues to address behavioural, social, and cultural norms of child protection violations as a prevention approach.
  • Engage communities in child protection efforts by creating safe environments for children, adolescents and encouraging community members to report concerns.
  • Implement training and capacity development for frontline child protection responders. Support localization efforts.

Response strategy:

The sectoral strategy includes community participation and strengthening of community-based child protection structures, as well as training and capacity development for frontline child protection responders. It will work to strengthen advocacy for the protection of children, enhance monitoring and evidence generation, and work with other sectors to mainstream child protection and strengthen referral mechanisms.

Gender-Based Violence AoR

People in need
8.5 million
People targeted
0.35 million
Requirements (US$)
$14.6 million

Sectoral impact:

The latest GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR) analysis (before the Lebanon crisis and recent developments), showed that 93 per cent of the approximately 8.5 million people requiring GBV assistance are women and girls. Intimate partner violence, domestic violence, economic and emotional violence as well as sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment, continue to be of concern. Women and girls also report that sexual exploitation remains a worrying trend, including online, because of the poor economic situation and the use of social media.

Recent developments have disproportionately impacted women and girls and have increased their risk of being exposed to violence. This is compounded by the economic crisis, the consequences of the influx from Lebanon, forced and voluntary returns, limited access to essential goods, basic services, and opportunities, multiple displacements, overcrowding and poor living conditions in camps and temporary shelters.

The suspension and/or closure of women and girls safe spaces (WGSS) and other service delivery points reduces the availability of and accessibility to life-saving GBV services. This leads to an increase in feelings of insecurity and isolation and a reduced space to disclose violence and seek support for women and girls who are surviving GBV.

Humanitarian service delivery points and distribution areas are identified by communities and GBV experts as locations where GBV occurs. Even though GBV may take place in or out of camps, overcrowded settings increase the exposure to GBV. Collective shelters and crowded distribution points entail safety risks for women and girls. The risks are exacerbated when the design of the assistance does not include GBV risk mitigation measures tailored to each sector intervention as for example lack of well-lit and segregated water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, gender separation during distributions, privacy for women and girls in collective shelters, or availability of female staff (trained in SEA and GBV basics) during distributions or activities with the community.

Immediate needs:

  • Increased access to life-saving GBV services for women and girls at risk and GBV survivors, in particular those that are displaced, live in camps or temporary shelters or are moving to areas where they have lost social connections. Women and girls in Syria continue to feel that nowhere is safe for them and that they are increasingly subjected to various types of GBV, severe restrictions of movement, and denial of opportunities, rights, and services.
  • Safety concerns persist in certain areas of the country, resulting in movement restrictions being imposed on girls and women, especially at night, limiting their freedoms and capacity to access lifesaving services.
  • Overcrowding in shelters and temporary centres because of recent displacements is increasing GBV risks for women and girls, while the water shortage in some areas and lack of safe WASH facilities increases exposure to abuse and exploitation and makes it difficult for women and girls to meet their menstrual hygiene needs.
  • The worsening economic situation increases tension within households, exacerbating risks of intimate partner violence.
  • An alarming shift in socio-cultural attitudes toward women and girls could negatively impact women’s empowerment and participation in the public sphere.
  • Dignity kits and menstrual hygiene supplies are depleted and require urgent replenishment.

Priority activities:

  • The GBV AoR aims to support 350,000 people with GBV services, 93 per cent of whom are women and girls.
  • Women and girls – including adolescent girls, women and girls who are widowed, divorced, single, displaced and with disabilities – who are at risk of or have experienced GBV, will have access to age, gender and disability-sensitive specialized GBV services, while also being engaged in various types of empowerment, skills building and psychosocial support activities.
  • Enhance monitoring and tracking of existing WGSS and of those that are at risk of closing or have closed due to funding reasons, in an effort to not leave women and girls at risk and survivors of GBV without access to life-saving GBV services. This will be complemented with renewed efforts to ensure availability and quality of referral options.
  • Strategically and regularly tackle harmful gender roles and power dynamics that are root causes of GBV by working with communities, including men and boys, and promoting GBV prevention activities, aiming for behavioural and social norms change in the long term.
  • Continue to coordinate the regular distribution of dignity kits to women and girls, based on identified needs, and implement CVA as a complementary modality of support for survivors and women and girls at risk.
  • Continue the capacity-development of service providers, including with a focus on GBV prevention and response to older women and other at-risk groups; on GBV case management and psychosocial support and on clinical management of rape.
  • Continue to advocate with and provide technical support for other sectors, to enhance efforts to mitigate GBV risks in the provision of humanitarian services.

Response strategy:

  • The GBV AoR will use multiple modalities of service delivery, including static, mobile or integrated, with GBV services provided through other sectors' facilities and programming. This will increase the reach of people in need of GBV services and will enhance opportunities to access GBV lifesaving services, adapted to specific, evolving needs. CVA in GBV case management is an additional tool/service which aims to mitigate GBV risks and facilitate timely access to life-saving assistance.
  • As part of GBV mitigation measures, the GBV AoR prioritizes the regular distribution of dignity kits to support women and girls’ dignity, movement and access to services and opportunities. CVA to provide access to dignity items should also be considered.
  • The GBV AoR will support accountability measures and the enhancement of client feedback mechanisms at WGSS and at other service delivery points. The GBV AoR will also organize trainings of GBV staff on better monitoring of GBV service quality, including client satisfaction.
  • GBV actors will also be supported to organize post distribution monitoring of dignity kits and use of regular safety audits to measure access and effectiveness of the GBV AoR interventions.
  • The GBV AoR will aim to scale up coordination capacity at subnational level, which will contribute to quality monitoring and adaptation of interventions.

Mine Action AoR

People in need
15.4 million
People targeted
1 million
Requirements (US$)
$16.7 million

Sectoral impact:

  • Years of conflict coupled with reduced possibilities to address EO contamination have put 15.4 million Syrians at immediate risk from injury and death.
    EO contamination adversely impacts different population groups in Syria. More than 80 per cent of all victims are male, indicating an interconnection between the deteriorating economic situation, the increased need to pursue alternative livelihood possibilities and incidents involving EO contamination.
  • Recent developments have led Syrians to travel across former conflict front lines to visit homes they were once forced to abandon. Large population movements have increased the risk of injury and death, with 75 EO incidents recorded in December 2024 alone, resulting in at least 64 deaths (about half of whom were children) and 105 injuries.
  • For years, EO contamination has been a key impediment to accessing economic opportunities, arable land, water sources and essential services. Any humanitarian planning must include extensive mine action interventions, with survey and clearance among the top priorities.
  • Significant disruptions in access to emergency medical care and rehabilitation services have lessened the ability of EO victims to receive treatment and specialized victim assistance.
  • Continued conflict and access constraints significantly impact the ability to implement activities, which include disruptions to the delivery of urgently needed explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) sessions, emergency marking and disposal of EO items, and assistance to EO victims.
  • EORE empowers individuals with the knowledge and skills to identify, avoid, and report dangers, thus preventing injuries and fatalities. It improves economic recovery efforts by helping communities safely return to their homes and livelihoods, enabling them to rebuild their lives and contribute to the economic recovery process. It can also lower restrictions in humanitarian access to populations in need by creating safer pathways for aid delivery.

Immediate needs:

  • Urgent scale up of EORE for affected populations as a lifesaving activity, especially for IDPs and children, as well as dedicated EORE sessions for humanitarian aid workers serving the affected areas.
  • A non-technical survey to mark EO contamination and clearance of EO items contaminating critical infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, schools, water and electricity installations, remains a key priority for the sector.
  • Unimpeded access to emergency medical care for EO victims, as well as continued access to psychosocial support and physical rehabilitation sessions will be key for survivors to be able to adapt to new realities in the short term and actively participate in society in the long term.

Priority activities:

  • Direct and digital EORE sessions for Syrians, including wide distribution of EORE materials, with a specific focus on people intending to cross former front lines and populations living in areas heavily impacted by the conflict. Additionally, dedicated sessions for humanitarian aid workers seeking to implement activities in areas previously inaccessible.
  • A non-technical survey to identify and mark EO contamination and (emergency) clearance of EO items, with a specific focus on critical infrastructure, especially main roads and bridges and water and electricity installations, as well as critical infrastructure in urban settings such as hospitals, schools and community centres.
  • Victim assistance, especially emergency medical services, psychosocial support, provision of prosthetics and orthotics and related physical rehabilitation services.
  • Data collection on contaminated areas, incidents and impact of incidents on individuals.

Response strategy:

Mine action remains the key enabler for other activities, most notably WASH, food security, health, education, etc. The sector coordinates with other sectors to provide support, consultations and EORE sessions for humanitarian aid workers accessing new communities in Syria. Due to the nature of mine action, sector activities will be delivered primarily through direct implementation. This includes referrals for specialised medical services to relevant partners from other sectors.

References

  1. This population group is covered in the “Inter-Agency Emergency Appeal for the Influx from Lebanon to Syria” through March 2025.