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UNHCR urgently needs $270 million to help Syrian IDPs and refugees in region

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Syria
+ 5 more
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UNHCR
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UNHCR urgently requires some USD 270 million to address the most acute and pressing needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Syria

UNHCR is calling for urgent funding of some USD 270 million to ensure that most vulnerable Syrian refugees and IDPs do not miss out on vital protection and assistance support for the remainder of 2018.

Some USD 196.5 million will enable UNHCR to continue its essential programmes during the rest of the year in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, including cash assistance, protection, health, and shelter activities. With over 5.6 million Syrian refugees registered across the region, including 2.6 million children, the needs of Syrian refugee families remains acute, with many not having the means to cover the basic essentials of life, such as health care and education. With additional funding, UNHCR programmes will help some 2.3 million Syrian refugees receive protection support and meet their basic and essential needs.

UNHCR is also urgently calling for USD 73 million to address the most acute and pressing needs of displaced people in Syria. With hundreds of thousands of people displaced since the start of the year, many people are facing increasingly desperate circumstances and rely on the support and assistance of UNHCR and other humanitarian partners to meet their basic daily needs. With additional funding, UNHCR can rapidly scale up its activities across key sectors, such as protection, shelter, and the provision of basic items, helping up to 1.8 million people.

Part of the urgent funding requirements both inside Syria and in host countries of Syrian refugees will go towards putting in place UNHCR’s winterization response, to ensure that vulnerable families receive winterization support well before the often harsh winter season starts.

Needs in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt – USD 196.5 million for protection, winterization, cash, health, education, and core relief items

  • USD 96 million is required to provide essential winterization support for 1.3 million vulnerable refugees across the region before the winter season starts.

  • USD 44 million is needed or cash activities may stop completely from November onwards, which would be devastating for refugee families’ particularly in Lebanon and Jordan, where over 80 per cent of families live below the poverty line. The funding would enable over 456,000 refugees to continue to pay rent, meet daily needs and maintain access to essential services like healthcare.

  • USD 36 million required to address the impact of rising health care costs which increases the risk of refugee families not getting even the basic medical services they need, such as child immunizations. The funding will provide health care support for some 35,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees in the region, particularly in Jordan and Lebanon.

  • USD 7.5 million needed to keep the most essential protection activities going across the region including support for civil documentation, child protection activities, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and response, and legal assistance.

  • USD 7 million is required to provide shelter and core relief items, and to improve living conditions in sub-standard accommodation for 68,000 Syrian refugees.

  • USD 6 million is needed to continue providing livelihood support to refugees to help them provide for the families and build self-reliance and resilience.

Needs inside Syria – USD 73 million for core relief items, shelter, winterization, livelihoods, protection, and health.

  • USD 41.2 million is urgently needed to provide essential winterization support to 1.35 million vulnerable IDPs and returnees.

  • USD 18 million is needed to provide emergency shelter and core relief items to support 153,000 IDPs and returnees.

  • USD 11 million is needed to continue UNHCR’s emergency protection response for 310,500 IDPs and returnees (including through community centres, mobile units and outreach volunteers), legal services on civil documentation, SGBV prevention and response, child protection, and housing, land and property (HLP) rights.

  • USD 2 million is required to enhance livelihood interventions for 15,000 of the most vulnerable IDPs including through the provision of vocational and life-skills training, as well as short-term job opportunities to reduce dependency and build resilience.

  • USD 735,000 is needed to provide critical health services including provision of medicines and medical equipment in 18 health points in the country.

UNHCR’s 2018 total financial requirements for protection and assistance for the Syria situation amount to USD 1.97 billion. As of 28 August, only USD 610 million has been received; 31 per cent of the total requirements. The USD 270 million outlined in this paper represent the most acute and pressing needs of Syrian refugees and IDPs within UNHCR’s overall unfunded requirements in 2018. The quick disbursement of existing pledges and commitments, as well as additional funding, is greatly appreciated.