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Our humanitarian aid in Syria

For more than twelve terrible years, the war in Syria has raged - an entire generation of children have never known a life of peace. The Syrian war remains one of the worst humanitarian crises of modern times. About 6.8 million people live as internally displaced persons in their own country, more than 5 million people live as refugees in neighboring countries.

There is no end to the suffering of the people: the devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023, further aggravated the situation. More than 15 million people in Syria are now dependent on humanitarian aid. We have been on the ground with our partner organizations since 2012, providing vital emergency aid.

The people in Syria are in urgent need of your support: Help now!

Help now with your donation!

This is how we provide aid in the earthquake regions:

Immediately after the disaster, we sent an emergency relief team to the earthquake region for rapid coordination of aid and, together with our partner organisations, we are standing by the affected people in Türkiye and Syria:

  • We are supporting local organisations in Türkiye and our partner organisations in north-west Syria in the procurement of relief supplies such as tents, generators, blankets, mattresses and food. We also helped to build emergency shelters and latrines.
  • In northwest Syria, we are currently supporting eight hospitals, including two women's and children's hospitals, and seven primary health care units in the regions of Idlib and in northern Aleppo. We also help with the procurement of medicines, medical consumables and diesel for generators at the facilities.
  • To ensure that our medical aid also reaches remote villages, we have brought five mobile clinics to the affected region together with our partner organization.
  • In northwestern Syria, we supported the construction of a field hospital that will provide medical care to more than 150,000 people affected by the earthquake.
  • Together with our partner organization, we have created two protected spaces for affected children, where they are cared for and can play together.

 

Our long-term aid in Syria

Since the beginning of the crisis, we have been providing life-saving emergency aid to the people in need in Syria - especially in the area of medical care. Together with our partner organizations on the ground, we operate and support hospitals, basic health centers and mobile medical teams. We distribute relief supplies such as blankets, mattresses and hygiene articles and are also particularly active in providing water, sanitation and hygiene within the camps. We also provide psychosocial support.

After years of war, long-lasting animosities and new evictions, the humanitarian situation remains extremely complex and the suffering of the people is overwhelming. The long years of crisis in Syria and the warfare leave many people without prospects, leading to further trauma. Syria remains one of the largest and most complex crises in the world.

The public health system has collapsed. A large number of hospitals and medical facilities were destroyed during the war, the power supply is inadequate and there is a shortage of medicines, consumables and medical personnel.

Many of the displaced people in the Idlib region live in refugee camps and informal settlements. People lack basic supplies such as tents, mattresses, blankets, clean water, food, and medical care.

Our goal is to improve medical care as well as living conditions, especially for internally displaced people.

  • Improving access to primary and secondary health care.
  • Improved health care for children and mothers
  • Rehabilitation of medical care infrastructure
  • Improved access to water, hygiene and sanitation facilities in camps

Working closely with our partners "Hand in Hand for Aid and Development" and "Independent Doctors Association", we are committed to improving health care by operating and supporting numerous hospitals, primary health centers and mobile medical teams. Among other things, we provide the following:

  • We provide outpatient services in basic health stations and hospitals, such as general medical examinations, treatment of malnutrition in children or vaccinations.
  • We operate and support hospitals where modern diagnostic procedures and specialist treatments are performed, e.g. in the fields of emergency medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, orthopedics, ear, nose and throat, ophthalmology, neurology and urology.
  • We operate emergency rooms and provide surgical health services.
  • We provide primary and secondary child and maternal health services as well as obstetrics, emergency obstetrics and newborn care.
  • We operate intensive care units and thalassemia and dialysis units.
  • We provide ambulances and patient transport systems so patients can be referred for more advanced care.
  • We procure medicines and medical consumables.
  • Distribution of medicines and personal protective equipment to health facilities.
  • We provide psychological support services. 
  • We deploy health workers in communities and health posts for health education and early detection of diseases and malnutrition.
  • We are strengthening the capacity of the health system by implementing health data management systems and improvements in inventory management.
  • Covid-19 management measures have been implemented in all healthcare facilities and triage areas have been established to minimize the risk of spreading the virus in healthcare facilities. In addition, we are informing the public about Covid-19 and protective measures.

 

We also advocate for improved drinking water supplies and better hygiene conditions in camps for displaced people:

  • We provide clean water to refugees.
  • We distribute hygiene kits to families.
  • We organize the cleaning of sanitary facilities.
  • We provide maintenance and repair of sanitary facilities.
  • We dispose of waste.
  • We build latrines and ensure their maintenance.

 

Financing: German Federal Foreign Office, Germany's Relief Coalition (Aktion Deutschland Hilft), Nachbar in Not (via Malteser Austria), Seliger Gerhard

Our teams and partner organizations on the ground are working with full commitment for those affected. The people in Syria continue to urgently need our help!
Donate now!

Stories from Syria:

Six months after the quake

People in Syria are still suffering from the consequences of the disaster. Four people shared their stories with us.

Read more

A beacon of hope

Eighth grader Ahmad Ali started a fundraiser, raising over €1,000 for people affected by the earthquake in Syria.

Read more

Earthquake survivors tell their stories

Weeks later, people in southeastern Türkiye  and northwestern Syria's earthquake region still live in constant fear.

Read more

Syria experiences the worst famine in recent history

War, drought and rising prices are the triggers of the hunger crisis in Syria. 

Read more

Child labor and hunger in northwest Syria

Ahmed works at a motorcycle maintenance shop near his refugee camp to secure a living and buy medicine for his siblings. 

Read more

Face of our work: Batoul

Batoul is a refugee working with Malteser International and helping other refugees from her country deal with their traumatic experiences.

Read her story

On the run

Follow our digital campaign on World Refugee Day 2023.

Read more

12 years of war - Syria's children of war talk about their childhood

The war in Syria began in March 2011 and has claimed many lives ever since.

Read more

Operations in complete darkness, without electricity, in cold weather

Doctors in hospitals supported by Malteser International in northwestern Syria report.

Read more

Yusuf's story

For many Syrian children living with chronic diseases, the war means also coping with the challenge of their unmanaged health problems.

Read Yusuf's story

#MomentsOfHome

"A few days after we fled, I learned that our house had been destroyed during the bombing. They sent me a video of it. When I saw it, I felt so bad," says Iman Al-Mahmoud.

Read more

Earthquake in Syria - our emergency response

Latest news from Syria:

31.07.2023

Six months after the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye

"The extent of the destruction is still inconceivable. Although clean-up work is progressing in many parts of Türkiye and reconstruction has begun in some areas, millions of people are left with nothing," explains Dr. Thomas Weiss, Head of Malteser International's Middle East Department. Six months after the devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, Malteser International has expanded relief efforts. The need for humanitarian support is still high.

Read more
14.03.2023

Syria's children of war: 12 years of violence and suffering

Cologne/Kilis. On the day Ahmed was born, his father died in a hail of bullets. That was at the beginning of the war in Syria. Today Ahmed is twelve years old and has never known a life outside of war, flight, and destruction. He was born in the town of Homs, but his parents’ house was destroyed and so his mother fled with Ahmed and his siblings to Bab al-Hawah near the Turkish-Syrian border. That was also his home when the devastating earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria on February 6.

Read more
06.02.2023

Earthquake in Türkiye and Syria: Malteser International sends emergency relief team

Cologne/Gaziantep. After the severe earthquake in Türkiye and Syria early Monday morning, the Turkish government has asked the international community for help. The quake had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. According to reports so far, more than 600 people were killed in both countries. However, the numbers are rising rapidly and the damage to residential buildings and infrastructure is massive. Malteser International (MI) has sent an emergency relief team to the affected region.

Read more
Our work in Syria

Project regions: Aleppo and Idlib
Partners: Independent Doctors Association, Hand in Hand for Aid and Development

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