London, March 15, 2023. Today marks 12 years since the beginning of the conflict in Syria. A range of factors has led to the humanitarian needs in Syria skyrocketing: 15.3 million people now require urgent support. The recent earthquakes in February have compounded issues in a country already reeling from the Covid-19 crisis, a weakened economy, climate change, and the recent cholera outbreak that has resurfaced after 13 years. According to estimates, almost the same number of people do not have access to sufficient healthy and nutritious food – an increase of more than 50% in the last three years.
Even before last February’s earthquakes, 90% of the population was living below the poverty line in Syria. Two years ago, the worst drought in 70 years also decimated agricultural production and showed the severity of the country’s water crisis, in addition to the effects of climate change. But in the aftermath of the earthquakes, the supply of food has become particularly fragile. Action Against Hunger has programmes to prevent and treat the hunger situation by restoring vital health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene services.
“We are really vulnerable people who need everything to live like humans again,” stresses Abu, a man in his forties who lives with his wife and four children in a small village. He is one of the people who have returned home. When they returned to their village they discovered that everything they had at home had been stolen: “We only have a damaged tank that we use to store the water we buy from the truck every week.”
Now he is hopeful of restarting his life with farming. “Honestly, this house is not mine, it belongs to my relative, but we live here because our home is destroyed. We don’t need help, we just need our land. If we manage to plant our land you will come after a year and you will see that everything is fixed,” he says. The family still hopes to rebuild their lives in the village.
Twelve years later, nearly seven million Syrians inside the country are displaced after fleeing the conflict. They are unable to access basic needs such as food, shelter, water and sanitation, shelter, basic health services or work.
This is the case for Reem, a girl living in rural northern Syria, and her family. “I am seven years old and I have never been to school. I should be in second grade, but last year we moved to another village and this year the school burned down.” The school in his village was being used to store ammunition before it was destroyed. It was the last available educational facility in the area.
In Syria, basic services and other damaged infrastructure are on the verge of collapse, causing a third of the population to have less than two hours of electricity a day. In addition, fuel shortages, currency fluctuation and rising inflation are eroding the purchasing power of the population: an estimated 75-80% of households do not have sufficient income to cover basic needs.
Action Against Hunger continues to provide a range of support to the country; this includes training farmers and families to generate income, improving sanitation, expanding mobile clinics and community health networks, and improving access to clean water.
In addition, the charity’s teams provided an immediate and sustained response to the cholera outbreak, which resurfaced in the country after 13 years, as well as to the emergency following last February’s earthquakes. In total, last year Action Against Hunger directly supported more than 800,000 people in the country.
Notes to editors:
- For more information or commentary please contact David at press@actionagainsthunger.org.uk or 0208293 6130 to arrange
- Action Against Hunger is the world’s leading charity stopping life-threatening hunger in its tracks. By training parents and healthcare workers to spot the signs, we get life-saving care to people who need it. Action Against Hunger’s research drives forward understanding of how to predict, prevent and treat life-threatening hunger. With unbeatable knowledge and unstoppable determination, the charity supported more than 26 million people across 51 countries in 2021
- For more information, please visit Action Against Hunger UK’s website or follow Action Against Hunger UK on Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram