Syria

About Syria

With a population of 21 million, Syria boasts some of the most diverse landscapes in the Middle East. Since 2011, Syria’s civil war has had a devastating toll on the country’s health infrastructure and has led to a widespread humanitarian emergency that includes more than 11 million refugees and internally displaced people.

Challenges

Since 2011, Syria’s civil war has been one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises and has left more than 15 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and over 12 million people suffering from food insecurity.

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near southern Türkiye near Gaziantep, killing an estimated 6,000 people in Northern Syria and leaving thousands more injured. Aftershocks rolled through the region for weeks, making emergency and humanitarian response in the area extremely difficult.

Within hours of the earthquake, Project HOPE activated its Emergency Response Team to provide key non-food items to impacted populations in Türkiye. After responding to humanitarian needs in the immediate aftermath, Project HOPE has personnel on the ground in Türkiye coordinating a long-term health and humanitarian response through local partners working in affected communities in both Türkiye and northwest Syria.

Our History

Project HOPE previously supported Syrian refugees during the country’s civil war that began in 2011. In 2015, we provided medical relief and supplies to organizations providing support in Türkiye and Macedonia.

Our Impact

In collaboration with trusted local partners, Project HOPE has been able to implement ongoing shelter, mental health, mobile medical unit (MMU), and WASH programs on both sides of the Türkiye-Syria border.

Project HOPE has identified immense MHPSS needs for survivors dealing with the long-term impacts of trauma. In northwest Syria, Project HOPE is supporting Sened Dernegi in their efforts to provide MHPSS and protection services to those rebuilding their lives after the earthquakes.

In partnership with Syrian Relief and Development, Project HOPE has also supported two mobile medical units in Azaz and Daret Azza districts in northwest Syria. Each unit provided basic primary health care consultations to internally displaced people as well as host community members. Services included reproductive and pediatric health care services, general medical consultations, and non-specialized mental health care integration. Between March and June 2023, the mobile medical units provided a 8,412 health consultations to earthquake survivors.