Highlights
• In Syria, UNICEF has reached 305,600 people in 140 hard-to-reach locations with life-saving interventions and critical services and participated in an ICRC/UN Inter-Agency convoy to the besieged location in East Ghouta in February delivering supplies for about 9,000 people, and carrying-out rapid multi-sectoral needs assessments.
• UNICEF continues to face significant funding gaps (86% ) for WASH in Lebanon with minimum services in informal settlements covered only up to April 2018. Additional funding will be required to sustain the provision of safe water and quality sanitation services to the vulnerable populations.
• At the UNICEF-supported clinic at Jordan’s north-east border “Al Rukban”, 416 Syrian children (200 girls) under the age of five accessed health consultations, and 275 children and 446 pregnant and lactating women (PLW) were screened for malnutrition. One severe and three mod erate acute malnutrition cases among children and seven malnourished PLWs received treatment and Ready to Use Supplementary Food.
• In February, UNICEF continued its WASH support to over 68,600 Syrian refugees (29,529 children) in the eight Dahuk and Erbil refugee camps. This was achieved through more sustainable means of operation, mainly focusing on technical support through government partners.
• More than 188,400 refugee students in Turkey had access to safe and inclusive learning environments in over 300 temporary education centers in 21 provinces through financial support that was provided to cover essential maintenance costs (repair works and security upgrades, etc.).
• As of 14 March 2018, the UNICEF appeals for Syria and the Syrian Refugees are 40% and 42 % funded respectively, this includes funds carried-forward from the previous year. UNICEF’s response to Syrian refugees in Iraq is most underfunded (83%), followed by Jordan (70%) and Egypt (65%). Sustained and timely donor funding remains critical to help UNICEF and its partners reach vulnerable children with essential services and supplies.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
In Syria
5.3 million
# of children affected
13.1 million
# of people affected (HNO, 2018)
Outside Syria
About 2.7 million ( 2,670,573)
# of registered Syria refugee children
About 5.6 million (5,598,695)
# of registered Syrian refugees (UNHCR, 8 March 2018 )
UNICEF Appeal 2018
US$ 1.287 Billion
Funding Status
US$ 537.0 million
Syria
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs: On 24 February, the Security Council unanimously adopted UNSCR 2401 to demand (i) a cessation of hostilities (CoH) without delay across Syria for at least 30 days, (ii) immediate deployment of weekly convoys following the CoH, (iii) immediate medical evacuations, and (iv) the lifting of all sieges. There is an exception for military operations against UN listed terrorist groups and their affiliates. Despite the resolution, military activity in some parts of the country continued to impact the civilian population throughout the month, resulting in civilian deaths, injuries and displacement, as well as causing damage to civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools, and affecting the ability of United Nations agencies and their partners to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance. Persistent clashes between Syrian Government forces and non-State armed opposition groups, with the involvement of foreign militias and foreign government forces as well as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), contributed to significant re-escalation of hostilities in locations such as Rural Damascus, Idlib, and Deir-Ez-Zor. With the recent escalation of conflict in East Ghouta, children are the most vulnerable group who are paying the highest price with a collapsing health system, education services limited to shelters, movement outside shelters very limited and the shelters themselves neither equipped nor spacious. All of these factors are depriving children in East Ghouta from having any sense of normalcy due to the deprivation of access to basic living standards. Turkish forces, along with Syrian non-State armed opposition groups affiliated with the Turkish Euphrates Shield operation, continued the military operation “Olive Branch” against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin, Aleppo governorate. Turkish artillery shelling and airstrikes continued to hit areas near the borders with Turkey, in addition to other areas held by the YPG. There have been allegations of civilian deaths and injuries, as well as of displacement. Local authorities are also reportedly restricting movement, with civilians not allowed to exit the district at check points. Some 5,000 people have, however, been registered as displaced elsewhere into Aleppo governorate since 20 January.
More than 20,000 civilians reportedly returned to Ar-Raqqa city in February, although the city is not yet safe for civilian returns as the city is littered by a complex array of explosive hazards including unexploded ordnances, landmines and improvised explosive devices that pose a direct risk to civilians as well as humanitarian and reconstruction workers.4 The systematic assessment, marking and subsequent removal of such explosive hazards is a pre-condition to enable the safe return of civilians, as well as safe delivery of humanitarian aid. Health actors are now seeing an average of around 25-30 blast-related civilian injuries and deaths per week. This number has reduced from 50 per week in late 2017. The number of child victims, especially boys, is however increasing as more families move back.