Summary:
Most urgent funding priority under the Appeal is to ensure uninterrupted provision of emergency relief, health services and medical stocks.
The 2016 operational budget of CHF 56.1 million has a funding gap of CHF 20 million.
The food security sector has the biggest funding gap, while one third of the population in Syria is unable to meet their basic food needs. As of June 2016, CHF 9.8 million is urgently needed to continue the supply of food parcels to SARC to continue the supply chain of food parcels from September onwards.
The IFRC is urgently seeking CHF 6.2 million for overall non-food relief items. With another harsh winter season approaching, IFRC is willing to assist 250,000 most vulnerable children, men and women that are internally displaced, and those living in hard-to-reach areas or informal settlements. Procurement of winterization items will conclude in August 2016, therefore partners who would like to contribute should do so urgently. Provision of hygiene kits continues to be one of the priorities to preserve the health and dignity of the vulnerable populations.
CHF 3.1 million are needed for uninterrupted support to SARC in the provision of health services and supply of medical stocks. The IFRC is the single biggest contributor to SARC’s health facilities, of which several operate in hard-to-reach areas. SARC is providing free basic and emergency health services, and medicines to populations living in neighbourhoods where health infrastructure are heavily damaged and services disrupted.
Out of the CHF 6.1 million budget, the Emergency Appeal is seeking CHF 1.6 million to continue implementing capacity building objectives.
The IFRC Syria Complex Emergency Appeal was launched in June 2012, and revised since for enhanced support to SARC’s emergency response to the growing humanitarian needs in the protracted crisis. With the 2016 revised plan, the total budget is CHF 145.1 million; which, at the time of writing, is 86% funded with CHF 125.1 million.
Situation
The situation in most parts of the country continues to deteriorate. Shifting frontlines, insecurity spreading to new areas that were calm for some months, have caused new population movements.
During the first quarter of 2016 the temporary cessation of hostilities resulted in a relative calm for a short period of time allowing access for interagency convoys to hard-to-reach and besieged areas. The end of April, was again marked by intensified violence in several parts of the country mainly in Aleppo city and Governorate. By May and June 2016, the situation was characterized by evolving security and conflict dynamics in North-Eastern Aleppo, Northern Ar-Raqqa, Idleb, and Dara’a governorates. Severe malnutrition cases were reported in rural areas of Hama Governorate1 . While the airdrops continued to parts of Deir Ez-Zor city, reports are saying that the city is suffering from shortages of medicines, health care and fuel. In June hospitals and health facilities were damaged, mainly in Aleppo and Idleb governorates.
The situation has further worsened the protection of civilians and humanitarian access within locations across the country. Many reports refer to patients who are not finishing their treatment after surgery in hospitals, due to the insecurity, which affects the proper recuperation and risks infections. The escalation of the insecurity resulted in displacement of thousands of families mainly from Ar-Raqqa, Rural Damascus and Dara’a; also negatively affecting the population’s access to markets, health care services, water supply, and agricultural lands.
As a result of the prolonged crisis the country’s economic development shrunk by 55 per cent, and has been pushed back by decades, to the level that now three out of four Syrians are living in deprivation. Only in 2015 the inflation was 43 per cent, resulting in steep rises in domestic prices affecting the prices of basic food items, fuel and diesel, resulting in weakened purchasing power of families, causing difficulties to divide the limited incomes among basic commodities, rent and utilities.
Education institutions, healthcare facilities and utilities have all suffered damage. Public services have deteriorated in quantity and quality, even in relatively secure areas overloaded due to the growing numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Social structures have been shattered as almost half the population has been forced to flee abroad or within the country.