Syria
Syria: Meeting the basic needs of IDPs and supporting their recovery and well-being
Falling bombs, plumes of smoke, another deadly airstrike. Yet, for the Syrian people, it is hard to know who is responsible anymore. It could be a terrorist group, the international coalition or the regime. Ten years on, Syria’s brutal civil war is far from over.
13.1 million people require humanitarian assistance, including more than 2 million people trapped in inaccessible areas. Many have fled to neighbouring states where new threats surface. As fighting intensifies in the north east of the country, some Syrian refugees and IDPs have made a break for ‘home’. Families return to face crippling food shortages and scarce access to food, water and healthcare.
The toll on Syrian women has been particularly ruthless. Many are now the sole providers for their families, after losing husbands and fathers to the war. Children, traumatised and exposed, face a number of acute threats to their safety and wellbeing including sexual violence and abduction. More than a third of the country’s schools are either damaged or destroyed, leaving no safe haven.
Population: 24.3 million · Poverty rate: 66% · Our reach in 2024: 154,692 people
Overview
Dorcas provides emergency relief, protection and psychosocial support to vulnerable IDP's across Syria. Our community-driven programmes focus on the specific needs of women and girls and contribute towards reconciliation and structural transformation.
Community-based protection
Our psychosocial support and protection programmes, together with our network of community centres, offer adults and youth a safe space to process their experiences and plan for a better future. Parents suffering chronic trauma learn how to deal with loss, manage stress and create a stable environment for their children.
Our activities focus on the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) among women and girls and the protection of vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and special needs.
Entrepreneurship and early learning
As an extension of our community-based protection services, we provide early learning opportunities for vulnerable children in Aleppo, Rural Damascus and Homs. We also offer technical and micro-business skills training for youth and adults, supporting them in the development of a micro-business or income-generating activity.
Healthcare
Following an airstrike, we work closely with the community to rebuild hospital infrastructure and make vital staff and equipment available. When the building is inoperative, we also stock mobile clinics with medical supplies that move fast to deliver critical health services in hard-hit areas.
In 2019, we were able to improve access to quality healthcare in North East and South West Syria thanks to the ongoing support of the Syrian Humanitarian Fund (SHF).
Food security
Our school feeding programme provides free school meals to Syrian children attending public primary schools in Aleppo city and beyond. This is an extra incentive for parents to keep them in the system. We also deliver emergency food supplies, including food vouchers, to displaced and vulnerable families.
Hanano Community Centre
By late 2016, the fall of Aleppo was certain. Syrian forces had recaptured the largest rebel stronghold in the region. The seizure of Hanano district, in north-east Aleppo, left some 275,000 people under siege as the army's offensive continued. Deprived of food and medical supplies, many citizens fled to safety. Yet, others stayed, bound to their homeland.
For those who did, life under siege is not without hardship. Some 6.5 million Syrians are acutely food insecure and an additional 4 million people are at risk of becoming so. This is largely due to the major reduction in livelihoods opportunities. With infrastructure and basic services destroyed by conflict it is very difficult for families to stay self-reliant.
Our partners
Dorcas works together with local partners and international organisations in Syria.
- Armenian Catholic Church
- Armenian Protestant Church
- Catholic Charity Committee
- Greek Catholic Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Maronite Church
- Monastery of Saint James, the Mutilated
- Orthodox Youth Movement (OYM)
- Presbyterian Church
- Syriac Orthodox Church
- Syrian Society for Social Development (SSSD)
- St. Ephrem Patriarchal Development Committee (EPDC)
- Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Dutch Relief Alliance
- Mary’s Meals
- Mission East
- Pre-emptive Love Coalition
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
- ZOA
Contact Dorcas Syria
Address
Abu Rumaneh, Ibn Al Haytham Ave, building 4, 3rd floor
Damascus, Syria
Phone
+963 (0)11 332 6367
Downloads
Download our publications about Dorcas Syria.