Brussels, 27 May 2024

Excellencies, thank you.

I would like to build on what colleagues have said, echoing the deep concerns shared by the humanitarian community serving the cross-border humanitarian response.

Since 2014, the cross-border operation from Türkiye has served as a lifeline to north-west Syria. Last year, the UN and its partners reached 2.5 million people each month with aid, including the delivery of protection, education, health and other critical services. Regrettably, in 2024, that number has more than halved to some 1 million people reached with assistance due to lack of funding. Women and children are particularly affected.

With the available funding this year, we could only support 600,000 people in north-west Syria who are severely food insecure to prevent them from falling into starvation, out of a total of 3.6 million food-insecure people.

Nearly 160 health facilities – including maternal and children hospitals – will be forced to close by June this year if we don’t receive more funding. Many committed doctors, nurses and midwives are working for free but this is not sustainable.

Since taking up this post one year ago, I have crossed into Idleb and Northern Aleppo more than 25 times. The message I repeatedly hear from communities is a call for increased assistance, and equally important, a plea for jobs and livelihood opportunities.

Progress has been made to achieve this. More than 31,000 families have moved from tents into dignified shelters that offer better protection to families against flooding and rain.

We have recycled earthquake debris for road rehabilitation, assisted shop owners with business grants and supported farmers with sustainable access to water rather than relying on water trucking. Our partners tell us that they can do more but they need funding.

Excellencies, we are grateful for the international community's rapid support for last year’s earthquake response. We count on your continued support and solidarity this year to ensure Syria does not become a forgotten crisis.

Thank you very much.

The humanitarian community is facing its most challenging funding landscape for Syria after 13 years of conflict. As of 15 May, the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 is only 6 per cent funded.

This year, the humanitarian community is appealing for US$4.07 billion to assist 10.8 million people in Syria – a 15 per cent reduction from last year’s appeal before the earthquakes ($4.4 billion) - following an extensive prioritization exercise. The plan is alarmingly 6 per cent funded, having received only $227 million as of 15 May. Of this amount, an estimated $1.4 billion is required to help the 3.4 million most vulnerable people in north-west Syria. Only some $110 million has been received for the cross-border response.

The most underfunded sectors of the cross-border response are WASH and Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), each receiving less than five per cent of the required funding. This raises concerns for the 2 million people living in camps and informal sites, the majority of whom are women and children grappling with overcrowding conditions and threats of safety and weather events like recent flooding incidents. Over 12,600 people in 33 camps across Idleb and northern Aleppo were affected by rainfall and flooding on 1 May.

The Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF), which was last year’s second largest country-based pooled funds managed by OCHA, is severely underfunded. By 15 May, the SCHF received only $9 million in paid contributions from six donors – a drastic drop from the $101 million it received in paid contributions during the same period in 2023. The years prior also saw a more robust funding pool with paid contributions amounting to $50 million in the first quarter of 2022, and $95 million in the first quarter of 2021.

In light of the funding situation, humanitarians, civil society, policymakers and government officials gathered in Brussels last month for various high-level engagements on Syria culminating in a donors pledging event on 27 May. This year’s Brussels VIII conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region,” hosted by the European Union, kicked off with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on 17 April followed by the Day of Dialogue, on 30 April, and its side events the same week. The UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, closed one of the side events organized by UN Women, addressing the “systemic barriers faced by women and girls in Syria.” He also stressed the urgency of funding needs for the response at the SOM.

Last year, donors pledged 5.6 billion euros at Brussels VII to help Syrians inside the country and in neighboring countries. International support was rapidly mobillized, enabling the Earthquake Flash Appeal to be fully funded by the end of last May. However, the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria was still less than 40 per cent funded by the end of last December, making it the least funded plan, percentage-wise, since the start of the crisis.

With funding stretched thin, the humanitarian community has no choice but to scale back its operational capacity and cost, which includes reducing human resources in UN agencies and NGOs.

Humanitarians, including Cluster Coordinators, will have to increasingly take on double-hatted roles and responsibilities, overstretching coordination capacities. But the contrast between last year’s demand for a scale-up response, due to the earthquakes, compared to this year’s downsizing is a shock across communities and aid workers.

Since last year, humanitarian needs have only increased in numbers and severity, with families coping with hunger, a crippling economy, unpredictable hostilities and displacement with no end in sight. The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has grown by nearly 90 per cent in five years, from 1.8 million in mid-2019 to 3.4 million people in 2024. According to the Early Recovery and Livelihoods Cluster, 80 per cent of IDPs lack a stable income source and depend on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. Prices in Syria have also soared over the past years, making food prices increasingly unaffordable. The price of wheat alone has increased by 50 per cent since last year.

Amidst increased food insecurity, food assistance has decreased in 2024.

3.6 million people are now food insecure in north-west Syria, marking an increase of 300,000 people from 2023. Two-thirds of them are children. With the available funding, partners are able to target only 625,000 severely food-insecure people this year to prevent them from falling into starvation. But this leaves behind 3 million individuals who are moderately food-insecure without any food support.

The impacts of underfunding are also reflected in the number of trucks crossing with UN aid. Less than 200 trucks crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria in the first four months of 2024 – a stark decline from over 2,000 trucks last year, 2,400 trucks in 2022 and 4,000 trucks in 2021. This is partly due to the shift from in-kind to cash assistance in the response. But a major driver is the suspension of the World Food Programme (WFP)’s General Food Programme in 2024 given that WFP made up nearly 75 per cent of all UN trucks since 2014.

The situation is dire across all sectors.

WASH services and potable water provision have been suspended in 188 camps in Idleb due to funding shortfalls, affecting as many as 110,000 camp residents. According to the Health Cluster, 158 health facilities, including 46 hospitals, will be forced to suspend operations by this June if funding does not increase. More than 130,000 women and girls of reproductive age are expected to give birth in 2024 but without proper care, this could lead to preventable maternal deaths.

Nutrition activities, including therapeutic feeding programmes for children and the number of Nutrition Rapid Response Teams, have been reduced. 20,000 children are currently experiencing severe acute malnutrition. Without adequate support, 75,000 children suffering from moderate acute malnutrition could progress to severe acute malnutrition.

More than 12,600 people were affected by heavy rainfall and flooding that started on 1 May. Over 2,500 tents and 200 shelters were damaged at 33 displacement camps, mostly in Idleb.

In the week following the incident, the UN and its partners responded to 29 affected camps, distributing food to over 9,100 people. Many households had their stored food destroyed by rainwater. Aid workers also distributed tents and core relief items to more than 6,200 people, including over 420 tents by UNHCR. Nearly 11,000 people received 1,800 hygiene kits by UNICEF, and 3,000 women and adolescent girls received dignity kits by UNFPA while cash support was provided to seven camps. Mobile health teams also provided outpatient consultations in Idleb, Harim and Afrin, as surveillance teams stepped up efforts to monitor water-borne diseases in high-risk areas.

On 6 May, an OCHA team completed a cross-border mission to Idleb to assess the impact of the floods. They met the managers of two displacement camps, as well as the families living there. In one of those sites, the homes of 115 households were damaged. Following the assessments, the OCHA team held a meeting with field focal points of the Clusters to take stock of the response and address remaining gaps.

As of 13 May, the UN and its partners have assisted nearly 11,800 affected people – or over 90 per cent of those affected. The remaining 10 per cent are families in need of dignified shelters given the level of damage to their homes. Since March 2022, over 31,200 families have been moved into dignified shelters by the humanitarian community but more sustained funding is needed.

After 13 years of conflict, 86 per cent of the 5.1 million population in north-west Syria are in need of protection assistance including access to legal services, case management and psychosocial support. The most affected population groups include pregnant and lactating women, orphans and separated children, homeless persons, and destitute older persons. In 2023, the humanitarian community initiated a process to develop a Centrality of Protection Strategy for north-west Syria. As its custodian, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, David Carden, shared his views on the strategy and ways forward in an interview with OCHA.

Could you tell us about the background behind this new Centrality of Protection strategy and what prompted its creation?

David Carden: I think there's a broader understanding in the humanitarian system that assistance is not only about meeting people's material needs. There are also protection needs. What this means in practice is having a system that looks holistically at accountability and addressing violations of rights, extending beyond the work of the Protection Cluster. A Centrality of Protection Strategy ensures that all actors understand their respective roles and responsibilities in terms of reducing risks and supporting people’s safety. It also underscores the role of leadership – my role as well as that of UN Heads - to engage with Member States and non-state actors. The creation of this strategy involved a consultative process with extensive discussions since I arrived in Gaziantep more than one year ago. We want to ensure that the final product has a buy-in and that agreements reached are actually implemented.

What are the key elements of the strategy and what is the timeline in terms of implementation?

Carden: It’s been a bottom-up process. The Global Protection Cluster has identified 15 protection risks that the IASC has endorsed. Last November, members of the Humanitarian Leadership Group (HLG) voted on the most relevant protection risks in the context of north-west Syria. Each protection risk is linked to one of the three collective outcomes: prevention and mitigation of grave violations, safe and dignified access to life-saving assistance and reduction of protracted displacement. For instance, the forced recruitment and association of children in armed forces and groups are linked to all three outcomes. Attached to each risk are actions, impact indicators and identified actors. A monitoring strategy is being developed with the creation of a monitoring team comprised of representatives across the humanitarian system. But it can be difficult because influencing behavioral changes from duty bearers and parties of conflict is not easy. The message can be delivered by the right person, at the right time and to the right audience, but this may not necessarily lead to action.

The humanitarian community is facing a dire funding crisis. Would this affect the implementation of this strategy and what are the implications of inaction on protection?

Carden: It is women and children who bear the brunt of the consequences of inaction. 2 million people in north-west Syria are still living in over 1,500 camps and informal sites today – nearly 80 percent of them are women and children. This protection strategy is also pertinent in light of the escalation of violence last October in Idleb and western Aleppo that killed over 100 civilians and injured 440 others in three months. Nearly 40 per cent of that death toll were children. We have to do everything we can to ensure that children, women and men receive not only physical aid but that they also feel safe and secure to live their lives. This is the message I have repeatedly heard from communities during my missions to Idleb and northern Aleppo.

Nearly 80 per cent of the 5.1 million people living in north-west Syria require health assistance but a third of health facilities are non-functional. Funding shortage is further depriving people’s access to health.

Aya Hammoud, displaced by the conflict, has been residing with her family at Al Shuhada camp in the Azaz district of northern Aleppo for 11 years. When she fell pregnant with her first child, two years ago, she visited Moaz Abu Madhi Maternity and Child Hospital – walking distance to her camp – to give birth.

“I received excellent care at Moaz Abu Madhi Hospital during the birth of my first child. When I fell pregnant for the second time, I knew I was in safe hands with the hospital close by,” Aya told the World Health Organization (WHO).

When Aya experienced labour pains nine months into her second pregnancy, her husband rushed her to Moaz Abu Madhi Hospital at night to find the hospital closed.

“I was in disbelief. I began to fear for my life and my child,” told Aya.

Moaz Abu Madhi Maternity and Child Hospital had to shut down in January 2024 due to the lack of funds to continue operations. It is one of the oldest hospitals in Azaz; located in the area with the largest concentration of displaced people in the northern countryside of Aleppo, serving a catchment population of 100,000 people.

Aya’s husband searched for hours to rent a car to take her to another hospital. He drove for over an hour across treacherous roads to reach Waseem Moaz Hospital – 17 km away – still functional.

“It was the most difficult journey of my life. The roads were rough, which made the journey long and dangerous, I almost had to give birth inside the car,” Aya added.

Aya was lucky she made it in time to a health facility to give birth safely, but pregnant women with complications may be less fortunate.

“I hope that the Moaz Abu Mahdi Hospital will be reopened soon so other pregnant women in our camp do not have to experience the pain l did,” adds Aya.

In April 2024, 77 health facilities in Idleb and northern Aleppo had to suspend operations due to underfunding, including 17 hospitals, nine of which are maternity and children’s hospitals. By the end of June 2024, 158 health facilities will be forced to suspend operations if more funding does not become available. By June, 32 per cent of health facilities providing emergency obstetric care will suspend their operation, leaving nearly a quarter of the population in the region without access to these services.

In turn, nearly an estimated half a million women of childbearing age like Aya will face difficulties in accessing life-saving obstetric care and reproductive health services.

The health system is the “safety net” when basic services and support systems fail. Failure to provide lifesaving, life-sustaining essential health services would mean further deterioration of humanitarian conditions in north-west Syria.

Story by Lankani Sikurajapathy, Communications Consultant at WHO in Gaziantep

• The use of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee has been extended for an additional three months until 13 August 2024.

• As of 14 May, the UN has completed 469 cross-border missions to north-west Syria since the first interagency visit to Idleb on 14 February 2023. 151 of these missions were conducted in 2024 using the Bab Al-Hawa, Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee crossings.

• The majority of the missions in 2024 have been for monitoring, assessments, and engagements with partners and communities. OCHA is also conducting regular monthly meetings with the Clusters’ field focal points to strengthen operational coordination, having conducted three local coordination meetings and three Humanitarian Information Sharing Meetings (HISMA) so far this year.

• In the last week of April, WHO rolled-out a series of trainings for 160 health workers at four hospitals in north-west Syria to equip them with the skills to manage the incidence of mass casualties and thereby minimize fatalities.

• As of 14 May, 150 trucks carrying aid provided by seven UN agencies have crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria using the Bab Al-Hawa and Bab Al-Salam crossings. The trucks figure in 2024 is significantly lower compared to previous years, partly due to the shift from in-kind to cash assistance but largely due to underfunding.

The latest Annual Report for the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF) is now out, highlighting the Fund’s achievements in 2023, a year marked by the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria. Last year, the SCHF received some $150 million in total with the generous support of donors (nearly a 40 per cent increase in contributions compared to 2022) and allocated $140 million to assist 2.8 million people in north-west Syria. 55 per cent of the people assisted were women and girls. 158 projects were implemented through 53 partners, of which 66 per cent of the fund went directly and indirectly to local partners.

The top three contributors in 2023 were the United States of America, Germany, and the Netherlands while the top three most funded Clusters were 1) Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items, 2) Food Security, and 3) Early Recovery.