REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Across the region, a total of 35,266 Syrian individuals have now been submitted for resettlement or humanitarian admission since January, exceeding the end-2015 target of 33,794.
As of the end of the month, over 1.8 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt have updated registration records, including biometric/iris scan enrolment (see story at right). In addition, the registration of camp and non-camp Syrian refugees in Turkey continues to take place under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior - Directorate General of Migration Management. By the end of December, 2,503,549 Syrians were biometrically registered in Turkey, representing an increase of 211,649 from November.
Throughout 2015, child protection and SGBV have consistently remained key components of the protection response. Over 585,000 girls and boys have now participated in structured and sustained child protection or psychosocial support programmes and 173,657 women, girls, boys, and men who are survivors or at risk of SGBV received specialist support.
In Turkey this month, 1,068 Syrian families, including families with SGBV cases and children at risk, were provided with technical advice, counselling and assistance. In addition, over 5,640 Syrian children benefitted from the 25 Child Friendly Spaces in camps and host communities in December. This brings the total number of children benefitting from these activities to 49,551.
Advocacy, community mobilization and awareness campaigns also continued across the region. In Jordan, a regional conference on SGBV and child protection was held on 9 and 10 December under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah.
Bringing together 100 government and non-government representatives from the region, the conference highlighted the importance of adopting a survivor-centred approach to strengthen national protection systems in refugee settings.