Syria

With around a decade of conflict devastating the country, civilians continue to suffer economic and social difficulties, with many forced from their homes. UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi has described the war in Syria as the “biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time”.

Across the country, a staggering 11.1 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. With 6 million people forced from their homes within Syria and millions more seeking refuge in neighbouring nations, families have limited access to food, water and healthcare.

As a high proportion of those displaced are children and with the breakdown of critical services including educational and healthcare facilities, the future remains uncertain for families across Syria.

Across Syria, the situation is desperate and requires a critical, ongoing response. We are delivering wide-ranging support, including healthcare, food, education, non-food items (NFIs) – such as clothing and coal to keep warm during the cold winter months – and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the Islamic Relief team has been working with local partners to reach the most affected people in hard-to-reach areas. We have supported paediatric centres across Northern Syria, providing essential medicine and equipment and also strengthened the capacity of our teams and local organisations so they are better able to respond to emergency situations in Syria and neighbouring countries.

In addition to supporting families inside Syria, we have also been providing aid to millions of displaced Syrian families in neighbouring countries including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Our ongoing Syria Emergency Appeal continues to ensure that as many Syrians in need are supported as possible. Now around a decade after the initial outbreak of conflict, and with families returning back to their homes, we’re working to help families recover and face the future in the safest, most sustainable way possible.

In the north-west of Syria, large numbers of people who have been forced from their homes are in critical need of support. In this area, people have often been repeatedly displaced due to conflict and are struggling to survive on a daily basis without adequate food, shelter and medical care.

We’re therefore continuing to support people in need across this region and have adapted our work to further protect communities against the risks and effects of Covid-19. Right now, we’re supporting 82 hospitals and medical centres in the north-west to help around 200,000 people.

To support this vulnerable community, we’re providing medicines and supplies and raising awareness on Covid-19 prevention, detection and treatment across the 82 health facilities we support. We’re also giving training to limit Covid-19 transmission for staff across 20 key health facilities, paying the salaries of 150 doctors and nurses and running mobile emergency units in order to take healthcare to where it’s needed most.