13 years of war

Donate for Syria

Mutter und Kinder in syrischem Flüchtlingslager
13

years of war in Syria

15.3

million people need humanitarian aid

59000

people died in the earthquake

Emergency aid in Syria

The war in Syria has been raging for 13 years. Since then, hardship, hunger and displacement have determined the everyday lives of millions of people. Natural disasters such as the devastating earthquake in February 2023 and recurring droughts further worsen the situation.

Help has been active in Syria since 2012 and continues to support the population. We provide families in emergency shelters with relief supplies, strengthen healthcare and promote agricultural measures.

The people in Syria are in urgent need of help – donate now!

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How is Help providing support in Syria?

Emergency aid after the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye

Immediately after the earthquake disaster in Türkiye and Syria, Help initiated emergency aid measures for affected families. Together with our partner organizations, we distributed food parcels, hygiene articles, baby food, diapers, blankets and medicines, among other things. We also helped children and young people in particular to cope with trauma and ensured that children from the earthquake region were able to go back to school.

We are currently focusing on medical aid: we are covering treatment costs, sending mobile medical units to emergency shelters, providing medicines and medical supplies, promoting nutritional measures and continuing to offer psychosocial services.

Syria: The future begins now

After 13 years of civil war, the people of Syria are at the end of their tether. Help is still on the ground providing humanitarian aid. In six camps for displaced people and 40 emergency shelters, we are providing Syrian refugees with important relief supplies, including hygiene articles in particular, to counteract the spread of diseases such as coronavirus and cholera. We also run a health center where up to 2,500 people can be treated every month.

Help is also supporting sustainable agricultural projects in north-eastern Syria so that people can continue to cultivate their land and provide themselves and their families with food in the future. To this end, we distribute seeds, repair water pipes and provide training. We are also the first aid organization in Syria to promote hydroponic systems, which save up to 90 percent water compared to conventional agriculture.

Help has been active in Syria since 2012 and has already been able to support tens of thousands of people as part of its emergency aid. By repairing the drinking water supply, well over 100,000 people have regained stable access to clean water. Help has also promoted education in Syria: To prevent the feared "Lost Generation" from becoming a reality, Help has renovated destroyed classrooms, built new schools and organized emergency school lessons for Syrian children and young people. In 2021, we were also able to successfully fend off swarms of desert locusts and thus prevent a plague that would otherwise have destroyed large parts of the harvest.

What is the situation like in Syria?

Earthquake in Syria and Türkiye

On the night of February 6, 2023, Syria and Türkiye were shaken by a series of violent earthquakes. The most severe quake had a magnitude of 7.8, followed by numerous aftershocks. Numerous houses collapsed and over 59,000 people lost their lives in the rubble. One year on, millions of people are still affected by the consequences of the devastating series of earthquakes and are suffering in particular from the psychological effects.

In Syria, the disaster was another bitter setback for the population. The infrastructure has already been severely damaged by 13 years of war. In many regions, entire districts collapsed as a result of the earthquake. Humanitarian aid is still urgently needed.

13 years of war in Syria

Syria has been at war since 2011. 13 years that have turned the country into a field of rubble. The situation of the civilian population is now more desperate than ever: hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives. Over 12 million Syrians are displaced, half of whom are seeking refuge in neighboring countries or in Europe. This means that Syria is still the world's largest country of origin for refugees.

Most of Syria's infrastructure has been destroyed by the fighting: roads, power and water lines, hospitals and schools lie in ruins. Countless children and young people in Syria face a future of poverty and unemployment due to a lack of education. Even today, over 90 percent of people in Syria live below the poverty line. Crop failures and inflation have also led to a thirty-fold increase in food prices since the start of the war. Over 15 million people in Syria are currently dependent on humanitarian aid.

I don't know how this crisis can be realistically resolved and neither do my colleagues from Syria. The agendas of all the actors involved are so different and geopolitically linked - solutions such as sanctions only affect the civilian population, as is almost always the case. All that remains is to provide humanitarian aid and, as far as possible, to increase people's resilience.

Julian Loh, Programme Coordinator

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Flüchtlingskinder in Syrien
Help verteilt Winterkleidung in syrischen Flüchtlingslagern
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Millions of people in Syria need humanitarian aid. Your donation makes a difference!

IBAN: DE47 3708 0040 0240 0030 00
BIC: DRES DE FF 370

Q&A

Help has been active in Syria since 2012 and is supporting the suffering population. Donations support our work in Syria and enable us to continue providing life-saving aid.

You can transfer your donation for Syria directly to our donation account:

Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.
IBAN: DE47 3708 0040 0240 0030 00
BIC: DRES DE FF 370
Keyword: Syria

Or you can donate online.

Please understand that Help cannot accept donations in kind. We normally procure all relief supplies locally. There are various reasons for this:

  • We meet the needs of those affected: Our relief supplies are tailored to the current needs on the ground as well as to the cultural habits of those affected.
  • We save on transportation routes: the relief supplies reach their destination much faster and local procurement is better for the environment.
  • We promote local markets: especially in crisis contexts, it is important to procure relief supplies locally and strengthen the local economy and thus those affected by the disaster.
  • We can use our capacities more efficiently: By sourcing relief supplies locally, we do not have to check, clean, sort and transport private donations in kind.

We are currently providing earthquake relief in Syria and are focusing on medical and psychosocial support.

Help is also distributing hygiene kits to families in refugee camps to counteract the spread of disease. In the winter of 2023/2024, we also provided numerous children with blankets, shoes and warm clothing so that they can survive the winter unscathed.

We also support sustainable agricultural projects in Syria, for example by providing seeds, repairing water systems and providing agricultural training.

Civil war has been raging in Syria since 2011. The conflict has still not been resolved, only frozen. The country is deeply divided: The north-east of Syria is largely controlled by Kurdish forces. The Turkish army has occupied several regions along the border with Turkey, while the province of Idlib in the north is considered to be the last area in the hands of rebel groups. The so-called Islamic State only has a limited area in the east. In the rest of the country, including the capital Damascus, the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad is once again in control.

Although there are still isolated attacks and assaults today, hunger and poverty are now the main threats to people's lives in Syria.

Although there is rarely any fighting in Syria anymore, the need in the country is growing. In addition to the consequences of the war, people are suffering above all from the economic crisis and high inflation. Many families can barely afford to eat, and there is a lack of work and prospects. The coronavirus pandemic has further exacerbated the situation.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled abroad during the ten years of war and face an uncertain future there. Within Syria, almost 7 million people live as displaced persons. Many live in makeshift camps in extremely difficult conditions. They fear the winter, which brings icy weather, especially in north-eastern Syria. Help supports the people on the ground.