In Syria: health, psycho-social and economic support to promote the humanitarian-development nexus

AVSI has been steadily working in Syria since 2015, with an extensive network of partners and projects, to support the Syrian population, worn-out by 13 years of war and by the long-going economic, health and social crisis.

Just a few hours after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, our staff was already providing immediate assistance to the people in Aleppo. After responding to the most immediate humanitarian needs, AVSI has been guaranteeing treatment, psycho-social and economic support to the earthquake victims.

AVSI is one of the 37 international organizations active in Syria. We work on multiple fronts to help the Syrian population: in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia we are engaged in support activities for women and educational activities for children, reaching thousands of people every year. "Open Hospitals" is one of our most important projects, supporting three non-profit hospitals and four clinical dispensaries, to provide free, high-quality medical care.

Today, Syria is facing a dramatic situation. OCHA (the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs) estimated that the humanitarian emergency currently involves 15.3 million people, of whom 6.5 million are children and 6.8 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Furthermore, more than 15 million people still suffer from food insecurity and about 90% of the Syrian population lives below the poverty line (2023 data).

In addition to the conflict that has been going on for the past 13 years, Syria is experiencing a serious economic crisis exacerbated by international sanctions, by the continuing devaluation of the local currency and the rising inflation. Most families cannot afford basic necessities, such as food, water, but also electricity and fuel.

In recent years, Syria has also had to deal with the impact of climate change and the resulting water crisis, which negatively affected the agricultural production.

During the night between February 5 and 6, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria. Its epicenter was located near Gaziantep, a city in south-eastern Turkey – about 50 kilometers away from the Syrian border. In south-eastern Turkey and north-western Syria, it caused 50,000 casualties, while thousands were left injured and displaced. The earthquake left 8.8 million Syrians affected by the destruction.

Just a few hours after the first tremors were felt, the AVSI Syria team was operational, helping displaced and wounded people in Aleppo and Latakia. After providing emergency aid, today AVSI guarantees treatment, psycho-social support and basic necessities for the earthquake victims in Aleppo.

Seven months from the earthquake, AVSI has directly helped more than 13,300 people benefited from post-earthquake support activities.

The cholera epidemic started in August 2022 in the countryside surrounding Aleppo, it reached the city and then spread to the north of the country. Syria hadn't been touched by cholera for thirteen years. This epidemic has been caused, among others, by the lack of maintenance of water pipes and access to drinking water, by the limited humanitarian and public aid that blocked major infrastructure works, and drought.

The war that began in March 2011 caused what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called "the greatest humanitarian crisis of our era". 5.5 million people have fled the country, while 6.8 million had to leave their homes and are now internally displaced persons who still live in precarious conditions, without access to basic necessities and services.

The current situation in Syria has a devastating psycho-social effect on the people. Following the war, the COVID-19 pandemic, the cholera epidemic and the February 2023 earthquake, the population in Syria is disoriented and unable to react. The hope for a better future, nurtured in some way during the war, today has left them.

That is why AVSI mainly in Aleppo, but also in Lattakia, implements projects for the wellbeing of vulnerable families through psychosocial support (1,000 children and 500 adults involved), monthly cash assistance (Aleppo: Cash for Protection for over 700 families, equivalent to about 3,700 people; Latakia: distribution of food vouchers for 300 families, and agricultural vouchers for 500 farmers, which includes farming materials and tools), assistance and social inclusion for people with disabilities (provision of medical supplies to over 80 people with disabilities), vocational training and job placement opportunities for over 400 youth (300 in Aleppo, 125 in Latakia).

Particular attention is paid to women leading their families, many of them war widows, who find themselves having to support themselves and their children on their own. They are involved in projects that allow them to start an income-generating activity in the field of agriculture and livestock farming: a concrete contribution to improve their economic independence and food security in the family.

The war has devastated the lives of thousands of children and teenagers: we are talking about a whole generation that has not been able to attend school and grow up in a safe, welcoming educational environment.

The war has destroyed or damaged many schools, while others have been used for military purposes or to accommodate displaced persons. Today, only two-thirds of schools in Syria are functional. Classrooms are often overcrowded and the buildings lack access to water, proper sanitation facilities, electricity, heating and ventilation systems.

As the 2023 humanitarian needs overview by OCHA reports, more than 2 million Syrian children and young people (aged 6-17) do not go to school, and humanitarian aid and local resources to support their right to education are increasingly reduced. Not going to school exposes children and young people to the risk of different kinds of child exploitation, from early marriages to child labor.

AVSI in Syria is engaged in rehabilitating school buildings: over the years 5 schools have been renovated in the Rif governorate of Damascus (the rural area surrounding the city of Damascus) and 4 in the rural areas outside Aleppo. In 2023, a school in Aleppo that was damaged by the earthquake is undergoing the renovation process.

AVSI also organizes remedial courses and "back to learning" campaigns: our staff visits the communities in person, to offer children and young people who are not studying accelerated remedial courses and helps them get back into the school system. This initiative not only promotes the children's right to education, but also strengthen their protection. Children who are forced to work do so to contribute to the family sustenance. For this reason, these campaigns provide economic incentives to attend school.

Since November 2023, thanks to the contribution of Fondazione Milan's and the collaboration with partner Pro Terra Sancta (PTS), 278 vulnerable children have been involved in soccer classes, an activity that provides an escape from post-conflict and post-earthquake realities and has contributed to their mental and physical well-being.

Syria is currently the country where the largest number of refugees in the world and in Europe come from: in 2023, over 5 million Syrians live abroad, in over 130 countries all over the world. Most Syrian refugees live in absolute poverty, and almost half of them are children and teenagers.

For years, we have been supporting the Syrian population also in countries that welcome refugees who fled the war. Particularly in Lebanon, where there are approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees, in Jordan and in Iraq.