ReliefWeb

CONTEXT

On 26 December 2018, exceptionally heavy rainfall caused severe flash flooding in Idleb and Aleppo governorates in north-west Syria. This area has a high proportion of displaced people and concentration of camps and sites, making it a region with a notably large vulnerable population. Hundreds of tents were reportedly swept away and concrete houses in camps collapsed.
As a result of the flooding, thousands of people have been impacted.

KEY FINDINGS

The results of this assessment showed a critical need for repair and rehabilitation of infrastructure and social services impacted by the flood. 74% of KIs reported partial damage to roads/streets as a result of the flood, and a majority of KIs (78%) reported a high priority need for repair/rehabilitation of roads/streets. The flooding impact has exacerbated pre-existing conditions and needs. Access to education for school-aged children among the population in assessed locations was found to be challenging. KIs in 34% of assessed IDP camps/sites and communities reported that less than 50% of school-aged children were attending school, with the top barrier to education reportedly being children working/children having to work. This assessment also showed a critical need for winterisation support. Winterisation kits were reported to be a priority by KIs (68%) when asked of top educational needs. Similarly, winter clothing kits were reported by KIs (97%) to be a top need when asked about shelter and NFI needs.

METHODOLOGY

An inter-sector rapid needs assessment (RNA) to understand the needs of populations in flood-affected areas in Idleb and Aleppo governorates was undertaken. Data collection was conducted by the Humanitarian Needs Assessment Programme (HNAP) and data checking, cleaning and analysis was conducted by REACH, with clusters and OCHA providing support on technical elements. Findings presented in this factsheet are based on data collected between 15-20 January 2019, through a total of 182 key informant (KI) interviews, across 182 accessible camps, sites and communities. Data was collected at the camp, site and community level with enumerators interviewing one KI per location. KIs were selected based on their knowledge of the population and general expertise about the assessed locations. Findings have been triangulated using secondary data sources.

LIMITATIONS

Of the 182 KIs interviewed, 26 (14%) were female. Field teams found that the majority of camp managers were male, and in cases where female KIs were identified, they tended to defer to their male managers to confirm their information.

Findings are not statistically representative and should only be considered as indicative of the situation. This information pertains to people in accessible camps, sites, and communities that were assessed. Therefore, people in some locations that may have been affected are not included in this assessment.