March 5 2017

A steady presence to help families in Syria and beyond

As Syria marks the sixth anniversary of civil war in March, SOS Children’s Villages continues its decades of uninterrupted work to help the country’s vulnerable children.

SOS Children's Villages' work in Syria began in 1981 when the first SOS Children's Village opened near Damascus. In response to the growing humanitarian needs due to the conflict, an SOS emergency programme was launched in 2012 to helps internally displaced people in Aleppo, Damascus and Tartous.

Over the years, SOS Children's Villages has been working to strengthen families and offering activities, trauma care, nutritional support and education for children. Emergency teams also assist Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Europe.
 
This photo essay illustrates the humanitarian assistance we have provided for children and families over five years, and how the Syrian war has affected SOS Children’s Villages.


2012

Those fleeing fighting, such as these children living near Aleppo, sought shelter in tents and makeshift camps outside the city.

As fighting spreads across the country, SOS Children’s Villages begins delivering aid and makes preparations for a humanitarian appeal to provide Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) and other programmes for families suffering from the trauma of displacement and conflict.
 
After a year of war, residents of the northern city of Aleppo face shortages of bread and other staples.

Intensified fighting prompts the evacuation of the SOS Children’s Village Aleppo in September.  More than 60 children are safely transferred to Damascus, where the organisation established its first village in in 1981. "The village is empty now. It is really sad, since more than 17 years it was never empty and now it feels as there is no life", says one employee of the Children’s Village in Aleppo. 


2013


An SOS Children’s Villages volunteer prepares school bags stuffed with supplies for children in Damascus.

An emergency programme begins in Aleppo with the opening of a CFS in July. By mid-year, SOS Children’s Villages provides more than 60,000 meals to at-risk families in Damascus and Aleppo. A campaign is launched to promote the right to education and to get 6,000 children back to school.
 

Here, two Syrian women care for children at a refugee camp in eastern Lebanon.

More than 2,500 Syrians are crossing into neighbouring Lebanon every day, according to the UN refugee agency, overwhelming local communities. SOS Children’s Villages launches an emergency programme in Lebanon designed to prevent child neglect, abuse or exploitation while also helping to create understanding between Lebanese hosts and Syrian refugees. Here, two Syrian women care for children at a refugee camp in eastern Lebanon.


2014


In one devastated area of Aleppo, an SOS Children’s Villages field worker is on hand to help displaced families get water.

In January, SOS Children’s Villages distributes winter clothing to more than 10,000 children and provides food for 13,000 people in Damascus. At least 7,500 people in Aleppo receive food parcels and other provisions as winter set in.
 

This boy was able to go back to school through SOS support.

Civil war is having a growing impact on children’s education, healthcare and living conditions. UNICEF estimates that among the 6 million displaced people in Syria, half are children. SOS Children’s Villages works to help get children in Damascus back to school. The mother of a 7-year-old helped by SOS Children’s Villages says her son “started waking up in the morning on his own and has returned to school. He is now doing his homework regularly and is happier.”


2015

In the coastal city of Latakia, an SOS Children’s Villages field worker talks with a child from a family that has fled fighting.

SOS Syria continues to support at-risk children and families through the CFS and interim care centres (ICC) in Damascus and Aleppo, and provides assistance to displaced families in other areas. “Amid the horror and despair of the conflict in Syria, it is children and young people who are suffering most”, says Richard Pichler, then-CEO of SOS Children’s Villages International.
 
Refugees walk near Gevgelija, in southern Macedonia, in December.

With one-fifth of Syria’s 23.5 million people having fled the country and increasing numbers heading to Europe, SOS Children’s Villages launches emergency programmes in Greece, Hungary, FYR Macedonia and Serbia to assist children and families seeking refuge in Europe.


2016


A medical worker tends to a baby at a health centre for displaced families. In addition to check-ups, SOS Syria arranged treatment or emergency surgery for 175 children.

Intensified fighting takes a heavy toll on schools and hospitals around Aleppo. In April, fighting forces the closure of the SOS Children’s Villages CFS and ICC. More than 20 children living at the ICC are safely transferred to Damascus. SOS Syria provides meals, baby supplies and family hygiene items for displaced families from Aleppo. “There is an urgent need for more food as thousands of people are now fleeing the fighting”, says one SOS Syria field worker in Aleppo. “We are deeply concerned about the impact on children and there is a desperate need to ensure that they have food, water, medical care and safe shelter.”

Syria-timeline_10.jpg
Hundreds of school-age children have returned to the classroom under the work-to-school programme.

SOS Children’s Villages works in Damascus to help vulnerable families so that children who have been sent out to earn extra money can return to school. In December, a second SOS Children’s Village is announced to relieve overcrowding in Damascus.
 

2017

SOS Children’s Villages offers warm clothing, blankets and other winter supplies to families in need as the winter gripped the region.

A siege of Aleppo at the end of 2016 caused further disruptions to power and water supplies.
 
SOS Children’s Villages is stepping up its emergency response with the opening of two CFSs, mobile services and an interim care centre in Tartous, a coastal region that is home to thousands of people displaced by conflict.

Child trauma is rife in Syria”, says Alia Al-Dalli, International Director of the Middle East and North Africa Region. “With the opening of the child friendly spaces plus mobile activities in Tartous, SOS Children’s Villages will be in a position to help thousands of children traumatised by conflict, displacement and in some cases loss of family.” SOS Syria is also working in cooperation with UNICEF for provide classes for 1,200 children at two centres in Tartous.
 

Watch the timeline video about our emergency response in Syria: