Syria crisis: Donors fail to meet world's largest humanitarian appeal

The eighth edition of the "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region" conference took place in Brussels on Monday, but saw only meager pledges from leading donors such as the European Union and the United States for this year's humanitarian response in Syria. In total, more than US$8.9 billion is needed to respond to the Syria crisis, making it the United Nations' largest humanitarian appeal worldwide.

More than 13 years into the conflict, Syrians are living through one of the largest and worst humanitarian crises in the world. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the humanitarian response in Syria remains alarmingly underfunded.

The Syria Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 is only 8.9 percent funded at $361 million out of the $4.07 billion needed. In neighboring countries, only $375 million or 7.7 percent of the $4.86 billion Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) is covered.

„If this does not change, the impact on people across Syria will be dire. Vulnerability will increase. Indeed, there is a real risk that it will contribute to a further escalation in the crisis. The humanitarian community responding in Syria, estimates that an additional 2.6 million people will be at risk of becoming acutely food insecure,” said OCHA's Director for Coordination, Ramesh Rajasingham, speaking on behalf of the humanitarian community.

An estimated 15.4 million people in the country face acute food insecurity, 1.8 million people urgently need access to safe drinking water and more than 506,000 children require life-saving treatment for acute malnutrition.

“Malnutrition, which has already surged threefold in the past five years, will continue to worsen. Water scarcity, already critical due to the high number of water stations forced of service by hostilities and resource challenges, will pose increased public health risks as we approach the summer season,” he said, addressing the conference on Monday.

In addition, only 63 percent of hospitals and 52 percent of primary health facilities are fully functional countrywide, with remaining facilities and mobile medical teams at risk of closure due to funding gaps, threatening access to health and nutrition services for an estimated 14.9 million people.

"And tragically, women and girls will face greater exposure to gender-based violence, and less support to mitigate the consequences. Children will become increasingly vulnerable to violence and abuse. And there will be significant gaps in our ability to survey and clear explosive ordnance, worsening the threat to safety," Rajasingham said.

"Immediate and sustained funding is critical to addressing these and many other urgent needs, and to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria."

Funding shortfalls have already led to significant reductions in humanitarian assistance. Cuts in food assistance have affected more than one million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Three out of four people in Syria, more than 16.7 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance this year. Children account for an estimated 45 percent of those in need.

Syria remains the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 12.8 million people forced to flee their homes. While 5.6 million Syrians continue to be refugees in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, across Europe and beyond, 7.2 million are internally displaced within the country.

"While we welcome the pledges made today, the discussion remains far removed from the harsh realities Syrians face," said Moutaz Adham, Oxfam in Syria Country Director, on Monday reacting to the donor pledges made at the Brussels conference.

He said funding was still falling short of the scale of need and the number of people in need was growing year on year, a stark reminder of the imminent collapse of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

"Discussions in Brussels miss the mark. Donors must break the cycle of underfunded humanitarian efforts, fully fund their pledges and ensure humanitarian aid and the wellbeing of Syrians are put ahead of politics," Adham said.

A further drop in funding from the international community for Syria and the region following the Brussels conference will exacerbate rising child poverty and malnutrition, Save the Children warned today.

“Yesterday’s announcement of 3.9 billion Euros in pledged assistance for 2024 - a 15 percent drop from last year’s commitment - and 1.2 billion for 2025 is another worrying decline in support from the international community to Syria and refugee hosting countries in the region”, said Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children’s Syria Response Director, in a statement Tuesday.

“Once again, we have seen words affirming the international community’s support for Syria, but too little in terms of funding to turn this commitment into reality for vulnerable Syrian children, absent any other funding mechanisms that would support the resilience of children and their families.”

Of the US$4 billion required to provide humanitarian support in Syria this year, significantly less has been received at this time than last year, and the largest shortfall in funding for the humanitarian response at any time during the crisis.  

The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria is the largest ever appeal for humanitarian funding for a single country.

The 10.8 million people targeted for assistance represents approximately 67 percent of the 16.7 million people estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance during the year due to economic decline, escalation of hostilities, global price inflation, the lingering effects of the February 2023 earthquakes, and protracted displacement.