SYRIA JOINT RESPONSE

About the crisis

Some 13.5 million people inside Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance following more than six years of civil war. Around 6.5 million Syrians have had to leave their homes in search of safety in other parts of the country. Another 4.5 million people have left the country to seek a future outside of Syria’s borders.

Syrians face shortages of food, water and health care. Many of these displaced people now live in camps or below-standard shelters, with no protection against extreme cold in winter and extreme heat in summer. Countless children have been out-of-school for several years and are exposed to the threats of recruitment into armed groups and child labour.

The Dutch Relief Alliance response

The Syria Joint Response is split into two separate responses, both with their own contacts with the donor. One response is targeting the area where the government of Syria is in control, the other is covering the other areas.

DRA member organisations come together to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to people who have been affected by the war in Syria. We reach displaced people inside Syria, as well as people from host communities who live in appalling conditions and remain vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict, lacking sufficient shelter and family income and extremely limited access to basic services.

Lifesaving interventions are organised in five different sectors with the protection sector being the largest. This sector is focusing on protecting vulnerable women and children, but also people living with disability to cope with the often unsafe environment in Syria.

The other sectoral activities focus on Shelter (minor repairs of homes), Health (providing medical equipment and minor repairs clinics), Wash (increase access to potable water) and Food Security (distribution of food and non-food items). Special attention is given to cash programming which is rather new in the Syria context.

Since 2015, the DRA has been addressing the needs of people, who have been affected by the war in Syria, which started in 2011.