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Earthquake one month on: Funding falls short of huge needs in Syria

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One month after the devastating earthquakes struck southern Türkiye and Syria, the needs of the affected populations remain immense. Both Türkiye and Syria have sustained extensive damage, with the extent of misery inflicted upon the people living in each of the countries requiring international support that corresponds to the scale of the disaster.

Aid organisations serving vulnerable populations in Syria are alarmed about the lack of adequate funding allotted to the humanitarian response that followed the disaster on February 6th. With 8.8 million people affected in Syria according to the UN, subsidy has fallen far short of the rising needs on the ground.

Additionally, Syria has been suffering from over a decade of war and a humanitarian emergency that was significantly underfunded as needs have grown higher than at any point in the conflict - according to the latest Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview, 15.3 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance.

Despite this, the funding for the humanitarian response in Syria has been lagging. Now, the Syria Earthquake Flash Appeal is only 52% pledged, while only a third of the $206m pledged has been obligated to partners and is available for response.

We, a group of 47 Syrian and international NGOs who have been providing humanitarian response in Syria for years, are stressing to donors they must focus on the plight of Syrians and commit to providing immediate assistance to the thousands of people in need by supporting more largely the humanitarian actors. They must consider the ongoing humanitarian response in Syria, and the long-term needs resulting from the earthquake, which have intensified the pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises.

In the wake of the earthquakes, many donor governments have responded by making funds available for earthquake response related emergency activities. However, some of these funds have been redirected from existing funding to the ongoing Syria humanitarian response. This will leave several of the existing urgent needs neglected and have a severe impact on our relationship with the communities and the trust we have built over the years. NGOs urge donors not to merely redirect, but to provide additional and more flexible funds to address the enormous deficits in services across needs.

Despite the prompt action taken by NGOs, especially Syrian NGOs, to expand services with existing resources, organizations responding inside Syria cannot keep providing the necessary support without new funds being released immediately. However, Syrian NGOs are disproportionately neglected in funding allocations despite providing the bulk of the response in Syria whether directly or as partners of the UN and INGOs. Both pooled funds and direct bilateral funding with longer-term guarantees should be made available to national NGOs operating in Syria. Without this, populations who have already lost their homes, businesses, and belongings will be pushed further into extreme poverty.

Additionally, donors must strive to end short-term financing in the region and instead invest in long-term recovery that would provide shelter, food, water and sanitation, protection, healthcare, education, and livelihoods opportunities for displaced people who have consistently struggled for the past decade.

The undersigned NGOs call on all parties to ensure that aid for the Syrian people is not politicized. The NGOs urgently call for increased international support to the response in order to prevent further deterioration of the situation in Syria. This disaster knows no borders or politics, and the support for the people of Syria should not either.

Signatories:

  1. ACT Alliance

  2. Action for Humanity

  3. ATAA

  4. Bahar

  5. Big Heart

  6. CARE

  7. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development

  8. Danish Refugee Council

  9. Dünya Doktorlari

  10. ELAF for Relief and Development

  11. GOAL

  12. Hand in Hand

  13. HelpAge

  14. Horan Foundation

  15. Human Appeal

  16. Humanity and Inclusion

  17. Hurras Network

  18. International Rescue Committee

  19. Islamic Relief USA

  20. Malteser International

  21. MedGlobal

  22. Mennonite Central Committee

  23. Mentor Initiative

  24. Mercy Corps

  25. Mission East

  26. Nasaem Khair Organisation

  27. Norwegian Refugee Council

  28. Oxfam

  29. People In Need

  30. Rahma Worldwide

  31. Relief International

  32. Revival Hope

  33. SAMS

  34. SARD

  35. Save The Children

  36. SCIAF Caritas Scotland

  37. SEMA

  38. Shafak

  39. Sham Humanitarian

  40. Solidarités International

  41. Syria Relief and Development

  42. Takaful Al Sham

  43. Un Ponte Per

  44. War Child

  45. Welthungerhilfe

  46. World Vision

  47. ZOA

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