Response objectives
In 2026, the humanitarian response continues to require the support of strong coordination and common services. Strengthened coordination, advocacy, access, needs assessments, risk management, and information management are necessary for coherent, efficient, principled, and safe delivery of humanitarian assistance. The Coordination, Thematic and System Support ( CTSS). sector will support about 358 humanitarian actors to deliver a principled humanitarian response in a coordinated, accountable, inclusive, and effective manner. CTSS will contribute to all three HNRP strategic objectives with support for evidence-based and informed decisionmaking, strengthened coordination mechanisms, and facilitation of assessments, information management, and access analysis.
Response strategy
CTSS will work within existing coordination structures at national and sub-national levels to support humanitarian actors with coordination, information management and coordinated needs assessments, community engagement and accountability, risk management, as well as advocacy for access and safety. CTSS will provide humanitarian actors with coordination support, including through the interagency and inter-sector coordination mechanisms such as the HCT and the ISCG as well as other coordination mechanisms at the working group and sub-national levels. CTSS will also continue to support NGO coordination efforts through support for the NGO Forum and INSO. CTSS will play a key role in the implementation of the 2026 HNRP, including needs assessment and analysis, and strategic response planning and monitoring. Recognising the disproportionate impact of the crisis on vulnerable groups, including women, children and people living with disabilities, CTSS will support the integration of protection, gender, disability and other considerations into response planning and monitoring. This will include ensuring the consideration of protection and other cross-cutting issues (PSEA, disability inclusion, and gender) in overarching humanitarian coordination mechanisms as well as supporting the AAP/CWG. Support for other thematic areas such as the use of CVA will be facilitated through engagement of the CWG.
Regular information management products and analysis including reports, datasets, online dashboards, snapshots, and humanitarian bulletins will inform decision-making across the response. CTSS will also continue to support coordinated needs assessments through AAWG, REACH and IOM-DTM. Gender, age and disability as well as cross-cutting issues such as AAP and cash are mainstreamed across core needs assessments, including the MSNA, RNAs, data analysis and information management products to inform strategic and operational decision-making.
In a challenging and dynamic context, CTSS will enhance operational access by facilitating access and promoting safety and security for humanitarian workers in collaboration with the relevant government authorities. The mapping of access constraints for advocacy purposes will continue to be a focus. Through support for the HAWG and the International NGO Safety Organization, CTSS will provide the evidence base to inform humanitarian leadership and organizations on access issues and the operating environment. The HAWG will also continue to provide targeted advocacy and operational support to maintain and expand humanitarian access.
While continuing to support a well-coordinated humanitarian response, CTSS will also contribute to ensuring links with development and stabilization partners, particularly through the durable solutions architecture-Solutions Working Group(SWG). This includes strengthened coordination with the SWG l, to ensure that coordination structures are fit for purpose to contribute to durable solutions for IDPs and returnees.
Capacity to respond
A total of 358 organizations, including national and international NGOs, and UN agencies, implementing the joint humanitarian response will remain the primary beneficiaries of CTSS. The work of the CTSS members supports the humanitarian response of NGO and UN organizations active across Syria. Through direct support to these organizations, CTSS will indirectly benefit the people in need who will be targeted in the 2026 HNRP. CTSS will continue to facilitate a coordinated humanitarian response centred around IDPs in camps and out-of-camps, returnees, and vulnerable host communities/residents. Greater coordination will also be required to promote complementarity and coherence between the humanitarian emergency response to people in acute need and durable solutions and development interventions, to ensure the longer-term well-being of these populations and the sustainability of their returns.
Cost of response
The cost of CTSS is estimated at $21 million. Key outputs include operation-wide coordination, security and access analysis, information management services, assessments, common services for community engagement and accountability, risk management, and system-wide information on displacement . The cost of CTSS is comprised of the humanitarian component of the activities of those entities involved in CTSS, including key coordination, common services, assessment, information management and AAP/Gender/PSEA partners.