Crisis in Syria:

Save the Children Sustaining Essential Relief

Region-wide for Children and Families September 11, 2015
The Emergency
The Syrian conflict is well into its fifth year. As the
fighting inside the fractured nation continues with
no sign of ending, this humanitarian crisis has
become a protracted humanitarian emergency
increasingly impacting not only the Middle East, but
countries in Eurasia and Europe as well, with tens
of thousands of Syrian refugees on the move in
search of asylum. Over 4 million Syrians have left
their country; an additional 7.6 million are
displaced inside Syria. In total, half of all Syrians
have been forced to flee their homes.
Internally displaced people are living in vacated
buildings, open spaces and in camp settings mainly
in the north of Syria near the border with Turkey.
There are now over 100 camps and the number
continues to grow, leading to greater difficulty in
providing people with access to basic services.
Health needs are growing due to a lack of medical
services, poor sanitation, food insecurity and low
rates of immunization.

Two young Syrian children look out the door of the

empty store their family has occupied in Idleb, Syria.
We are helping to meet the needs of
displaced families there.
Photo: Ahmad Baroudi for Save the Children

Refugees Dire Choices

The 3.2 million Syrians who have fled to Lebanon,
Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey are also facing
increasing pressures. The generosity shown by host
countries and communities and donors is waning.
Needs are outstripping local and national
resources, humanitarian assistance and food
subsidies to refugees are being cut, and host
governments are considering further restrictions
on their movement.
Refugees own ability to cope is becoming
exhausted and, running out of money and not being
permitted to work, they are resorting to eating
less, marrying off girl children and sending children
to work in exploitative labor. Many refugees have
no option but to return to Syria or attempt to

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reach Europe, where they are joining an already

massive migration to the continent, which is the
largest of its kind since the end of World War II.

The Impact on Children

From the very start of the conflict, children have
been profoundly affected by the brutal violence.
Thousands of girls and boys are believed to have
been killed or injured; others face severe
deprivation of their basic rights, including to
education and health care. As the conflict
continues, more and more children are being
forced to drop out of school to engage in
hazardous labor or are becoming involved with
armed groups. In the eight governorates in
northern Syria, there are an estimated 1.7 million
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school-age children and youth out of school.

Children who have been exposed to horrific
scenes or who have been uprooted from their
homes for the uncertainties of life as refugees are
also deeply affected by their experiences and need
help managing and overcoming the stress.

programs and train community members on

childrens rights and child protection mechanisms;
and support some 55 schools in northern Syria to
help children continue their education. We also
work with partners on a variety of safe water and
hygiene programs.

Save the Childrens Response

In Northwest Syria:
Household kits of essential supplies were
provided to 109 newly-arrived families; we also
distributed 360 hygiene kits.
Cash-for-work activities are ongoing through
our partner in Idleb.
Approximately 1,000 children attend activities
at our child-friendly spaces each week.
Child protection awareness sessions were held
for adults in several camps.
We completed a sewage system and latrines
for women in the Qah camp.
Hygiene awareness activity in camps, nutrition
centers, schools and communities reached
2,450 people.

Save the Children has maintained a presence in the

Middle East for decades, and we have been
responding to the Syrian refugee crisis since it
began, with our work unfolding across the region.
We are currently working inside Syria, and with
Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and
Armenia and most recently Turkey. To date, we
have reached over 2.9 million people in Lebanon,
Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Syria, of whom 1.9 million
are children.
Save the Children is also initiating programs for
children in Libya, the jumping-off point for many
Syrian families seeking passage to Europe. This is
part of our growing global response to the mass
migration crisis across Europe. We are helping
Syrian refugees and refugees fleeing other conflicts,
oppression and human rights abuses in the
countries though which they are passing; in
destination countries, and in countries where the
migration has its origins including Syria and much
of the Middle East and northern Africa.
We continue to seek generous support for the
breadth of our work for children and families
who remain inside Syria, and for refugees who
are in camps and host communities or in transit
to Europe in hopes of safety, security and
asylum.
Here are recent highlights of our programs inside
Syria and in refugee camps and host communities in
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Turkey:

Syria
Save the Children and its partners work in areas
controlled by the government and by opposition
forces, as security allows. We help meet food
needs; support health care and nutrition facilities in
camps and villages, conduct child protection
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In Northeast Syria:
We completed distributions of infant care kits,
hygiene kits and 700 sets of childrens clothing.
Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF)
activities, including breastfeeding support,
mother group sessions and screening of
children was conducted at 10 nutrition
program sites. Approximately 100 group and
100 individual sessions are conducted each
week; 805 mothers recently received
counseling on proper feeding for their
youngest children.

Egypt

184 refugee families received emergency cash

assistance because of loss of income or
evictions.
We run five child and family centers across
Greater Cairo, for children ages 4-18 and their
families. They are open to all refugees (Syrian,
Sudanese, Eritrean, Somali, and Ethiopian) and
Egyptian children.

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Over 6,000 education kits have been

distributed to refugee children and children
from host communities. We also provide
children with school bags, uniforms, and pay
school fees parents cannot afford.
To date, we have trained over 300 doctors and
nurses in the Giza District on family health and
maternal and child health, and have assisted in
vaccinating 8,200 children against polio. We
and a partner also covered the cost of
vaccinations for 1,376 children and their
parents against hepatitis.

Iraq

Over1,400 children attended our child-friendly

spaces in two camps during August. We now
have 11 child-friendly spaces operating.
In the Dohuk camps, 537 children participated
in non-formal education activities; 438 children
participated in early childhood care and
development activities; and 2,500 children used
our reading room.
In Erbil, we distributed 750 learning kits to
children at our child-friendly spaces.
With fighting in southern Turkey between
Turkish forces and an armed opposition group,
we are monitoring the border situation and are
prepared to provide aid to Turkish families
who cross into northern Iraq.

Ghousoun is a midwife in our Infant and Young

Children Feeding Program in Jordan. She promotes
breastfeeding and supports new mothers in the
Emirates Jordanian Camp.
Save the Children Photo

Jordan

With food for refugees such a grave concern,

we continue to provide over 500 tons of bread
to those in the Zaatari camp every month.
We are also carrying out an infant feeding
program in refugee camps and host
communities. We raise awareness of correct
feeding practices through training sessions and
by putting nutritionists and nurses in touch
with pregnant women. We offer screenings
that detect instances of under-nutrition and
distribute protein-rich food supplements. We
also provide oral rehydration solutions for
children with diarrhea.
Over 500 children have participated in our
Healing and Education Through the Arts
(HEART) program, which offers children
activities that serve as a creative outlet for

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them to express their fears, stress and

anxieties and receive emotional support from
trained adults.
Save the Children also provides psychologists
and social workers in schools and care centers
to mitigate violence cases. We have helped to
overcome ongoing issues of bullying and
tensions between refugee and host community
students.
We hold awareness sessions with children,
teenagers, and parents to increase their
understanding of childrens rights and the
harmful practices of violent discipline and early
marriage. We are also the first agency in
Jordan to produce educational materials such
as storybooks on the issue of early marriage.

Lebanon

Five new child protection groups were

established in North and Central Bekaa, and
regular weekly meetings have begun.
We reached over 500 children through our
mobile child-friendly spaces, which bring play,

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learning, and social activities to hard-to-reach

children.
Over 1,000 households received cash transfers
of $175 for food and other essential supplies.
During August, our water, sanitation and
hygiene team was active in Central and North
Bekaa, distributing over 500 water filters, 1,300
vouchers for water, 174 water storage tanks
and 30 water test kits to households. In
Tripoli, we reached 27,500 people though
activities promoting good hygiene.
A new round of psychosocial support services
was launched for 600 children.
195 vouchers, to be used to purchase weatherproofing supplies, were provided to refugee
families living in unfinished buildings, garages
and other desperate situations in Bekaa.

Libya
As a transit point for refugees from the Middle East
and north Africa, Libya is the point of departure
for thousands of people fleeing from Syria and
other conflicts in western and sub-Saharan Africa.
Save the Children has completed assessments in
areas in which we will be working with partners,
and has identified seven groups that will help us
alleviate childrens needs.

Turkey
We are initiating a project in Hatay Province to
address the barriers to education for Syrian
children, in coordination with national and local
government entities. We will work in four schools
to train teachers in looking out for childrens wellbeing; rehabilitate and furnish the schools in line
with international standards; provide educational
materials for children and classrooms; provide
extracurricular and social activities for Syrian and
Turkish children; and address the transportation
needs for the most vulnerable children at each
school.

Displaced children wash their hands as part of a Save

the Children-led hygiene activity in Khanaqeen, Iraq.
Photo: Mark Kaye for Save the Children

Ten percent of your contribution will be used help us prepare

for the next emergency. Nobody knows when the next
disaster will strike, but your support helps Save the Children
provide assistance in the critical first hours and days of an
emergency when children need us most.

We also plan to establish six non-formal education

centers to reach vulnerable refugee youth in Hatay
Province. These centers will serve as safe havens
for youth, provide language classes, psychosocial
support and activities to promote social cohesion.

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