Millions of people in Syria remain at risk of death from unexploded ordnance, disease and malnutrition, and urgent assistance is needed, United Nations humanitarian officials said on Friday. Despite some progress, humanitarian needs in Syria remain immense as years of conflict have pushed 90 percent of the population into poverty, with nearly 7.5 million people displaced inside Syria and more than six million living as refugees.
More than 14 years of conflict have devastated Syria's economy and infrastructure, leaving millions without adequate housing, reliable water, electricity and other basic services. Over 16.7 million Syrians - including some 6.5 million children - inside the country are still in need of urgent humanitarian aid, including food, shelter and health care.
More than half of the population is food insecure, with nearly 3 million people facing severe food insecurity.
At the end of a visit to the country on Friday, Edem Wosornu, who heads the Operations and Advocacy Division of the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), said she could "feel the momentum for change" on the ground after years of suffering and hardship under the Assad government ended with its overthrow last December.
But daunting challenges remained, with 16.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and needs "staggering".
Speaking to journalists in Geneva from Gaziantep, a humanitarian hub in Turkey just across the Syrian border, Wosornu noted an "encouraging trend of returns" since last December.
More than 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin, and more than 500,000 refugees have come back from neighboring countries, bringing the total number of Syrians who have gone home since December 8 last year to more than 1.5 million.
However, more than 670,000 men, women and children have been newly displaced since November last year.
The OCHA official cited insecurity, damaged homes, inadequate services, lack of livelihood opportunities and the threat of unexploded ordnance as "key barriers" preventing people from returning.
While the level of hostilities had subsided, localized tensions and clashes made protection risks a major and growing concern, she said.
During her visit to Latakia, Wosornu said she was confronted with the reality of worsening violence. The people she spoke to had experienced unimaginable loss, and yet some feared worse was to come.
“People say, first and foremost, they want security,” she stressed.
The remnants of heavy fighting pose an ongoing threat to civilians, said Altaf Musani, the UN World Health Organization's (WHO) Director of Health Emergencies Interventions, who accompanied the OCHA official on her mission to Syria.
He pointed to at least 909 casualties from unexploded ordnance since December 2024, including some 400 deaths - the majority of them women and children.
“We’re starting to see the admission rates and consultation rates in emergency rooms increase […] Children and women, going about their daily life, trying to get water, trying to get food, trying to rebuild”, are walking through agricultural land, roads and rivers where unexploded munitions could be hiding, he said.
Diseases such as cholera and acute watery diarrhea are spreading, Musani said, stressing that more than 1,444 suspected cases of cholera and seven related deaths have been recorded.
“This is particularly in Latakia and Aleppo, particularly around displacement camps,” he said.
“We know that when cholera gets hold in camps, it can serve as a brush fire, increasing both morbidity and mortality.”
The WHO official warned that more than 416,000 children in Syria are at risk of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and that more than half of children under five suffering from SAM are not receiving treatment.
“From a public health standpoint, we need to be able to watch that risk and intervene and save those children,” he said.
Due to funding cuts that humanitarians are "witnessing globally" but are "really evident" in Syria, Musani also noted that some 50 percent of maternity hospitals in north-west Syria have ceased operations since September 2024, leaving pregnant women to face the grim reality of giving birth without essential medical care.
The humanitarian operation in Syria is already severely underfunded. The UN and its partners reach an average of 2.4 million people each month through in-country and cross-border operations. But they could do more with adequate funding.
OCHA told the Security Council on Wednesday that the international donor community must act quickly to increase humanitarian funding for the response in Syria.
“The Syrian people have shown resilience, but they cannot endure this crisis alone – and we must act with urgency,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, Head of OCHA in Geneva and Director of the Coordination Division.
“Humanitarian needs remain immense across the country, and they are growing in complexity,” he told the Council.
To date, only 10 percent of the $2 billion needed for the humanitarian response plan to reach 8 million of the most vulnerable people between January and June 2025 has been received.
“The consequences are already visible and will become more so as time passes and as funding cuts take hold,” Rajasingham warned, citing two examples.
He explained that in north-east Syria, conditions in camps such as Tala’a, Areesha and Tweineh, are deteriorating as most services remain suspended due to funding shortfalls.
“General food assistance has already been suspended in Tal-Samen and Twahina camps, compounding food insecurity, malnutrition and psychosocial distress”, the OCHA official said
“In north-west Syria alone, 40 of 83 protection centers have closed, leaving huge gaps in services for vulnerable people, including children and persons with disabilities. Additionally, 20 safe spaces for women and girls have closed since January, severely reducing access to support services for survivors of gender-based violence.”
On Friday, WHO's Musani said the country's cash-strapped health facilities are facing a shortage of skilled workers and equipment. The war has forced some 50 to 70 percent of the health workforce to leave the country in search of other opportunities, and the health infrastructure is in dire need of investment.
The WHO official noted that for the health system - the "heartbeat of the nation" - the sanctions imposed on the country during the Assad rule had led to a lack of much-needed upgrades, jeopardizing the purchase of new MRI machines, CT scanners, laboratory equipment and software upgrades.
In the past two weeks, both the United States and the European Union have moved to lift the sanctions on Syria.
OCHA’s Wosornu expressed hope that thanks to this development “we’ll see the impact on goods and services, on the cost of doing operations in the country, on the ability to move goods quicker into the country”.
But “it will take time”, she added. “I believe the people of Syria are hopeful that this will change their everyday lives.”
On December 8, 2024, Syria experienced a dramatic and historic turn of events when rebel forces took control of the capital, Damascus, and President Bashar Assad resigned and fled the country after a swift rebel offensive across the country, raising hopes of an end to the 14-year civil war.
The rebel offensive throughout the country, led by the non-state armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by other non-state armed groups, led to the capture of other strategic cities in north-west and central Syria and radically changed the political landscape of the Middle Eastern country.
On March 29, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced the formation of a new government, emphasizing unity in rebuilding the state. According to the new government, key priorities include fighting corruption, revitalizing institutions, and strengthening the economy.
While a new transitional government is now in place, the country remains fragmented among different armed actors. HTS and armed groups under the umbrella of the Syrian National Army (SNA) dominate most of the west and north - including Damascus, Aleppo and Idlib - while the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold parts of the north-east. In the south, various armed groups exercise territorial control.
Other foreign powers continue to wield influence, including Turkey, Russia, Israel, and the United States. Russia maintains bases on the coast, and Israel has expanded the area under its control, launching hundreds of airstrikes across Syria since December 8 last year in the south-west, the coast, the north-east, Damascus, Hama, and Homs, threatening Syria's fragile political transition.
Ongoing fighting in several parts of Syria continues to leave people living in fear of attacks and at risk of new displacement. Humanitarian experts warn that conditions in Syria are "far from fully stable or conducive," raising concerns about premature returns and renewed displacement.
During 14 years of war, Syrian civilians have been subjected to massive and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Despite significant political changes in the country in recent months, the Syrian people continue to live through one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.