By 31 October 2018, the Syria crisis remains the largest refugee crisis with 5,631,309 registered refugees by UNHCR in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. While UN agencies reports on Syria reflect that amidst an intensification of hostilities in multiple locations notably Idleb, Afrin, East Ghouta, southern Damascus, northern rural Homs and parts of north east Syria, the first six months of 2018 witnessed 1.2 million population displaced as civilians sought to escape to avoid the effects of conflict. (HNO 2018) Some 6.1 million people remained long-term displaced across Syria. As UNOCHA stated in the midyear HRP report for 2018: “the overall scale, scope and complexity of humanitarian needs of people in Syria remain staggering in terms of magnitude and severity with an estimated 13 million people in need across the country, of whom 5.6million are in areas of acute need”. (UNHCR 2017, OCHA 2017) The pace of displacement remains relentless, with hundreds and thousands of families displaced internally for the second or third time. While according to the (regional) 3RP 2018 mid-year report, as the conflict in Syria entered its eighth year, neighbouring countries continue to contend with mounting demographic, economic, political, security and social pressures. Across the region, borders and admission practices remained closely managed, affecting the displacement ability of many individuals. Despite the exceptional generosity of host governments, the conditions of refugee families across the region remain extremely challenging and many refugee families have become increasingly vulnerable with each passing year of displacement: poverty rates exceed 60 per cent in some host countries and some 35 per cent of Syrian refugee children are out-of-school. (HNO 2018) Meanwhile, Palestinian refugees who are affected by the Syrian crisis continue to face particular vulnerabilities. It’s worth mentioning that the appeals and the response plans set by UN agencies and the host communities remain less than 50% funded. (3RP June 2018) Therefore, SYR191 appeal remains a high priority for ACT members who are active in the region to be able to support refugees, internally displaced people as well as the host communities impacted by the crisis.
As part of the revision of the ACT Alliance Humanitarian Response Mechanism, a “Call for Action” is essentially the same as an “Alert”, but it applies to Complex emergencies only (category 3 in the ACT Revised Humanitarian Mechanism). For further information on the Revised Humanitarian Response Mechanism, please refer to its online toolkit: https://actlearn.org/course/view.php?id=236
