UN and other partners in Syria

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is responsible for strengthening the conditions of children throughout the world. In Syria, UNICEF and its partners are working to protect children and support them in mitigating the consequences of the conflict and maintaining some form of normalcy in everyday life by building their resilience and ability to adapt and survive the changing conditions of the crisis. UNICEF works i.e. to improve access to and quality of education and psychosocial support so that children and their carers can process the trauma they have suffered during the conflict. In addition, UNICEF and its partners distribute hygiene packages, clean drinking water, and humanitarian assistance such as vaccines and food, even in hard-to-reach areas. UNICEF also works to prevent and treat malnutrition and helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Syria. Finally, UNICEF works to prevent gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, which unfortunately are often increasing in conflict situations.

Example of project
Denmark has supported UNICEF's work to provide clean drinking water to the residents of the Al-Hol camp in Northeast Syria. UNICEF supplies daily trucks with clean drinking water and has installed more than 650 water tanks, which ensure a fifth of the camp's residents clean drinking water. In addition, in November 2021, UNICEF installed a water treatment plant and is also constructing two others.

Read more about UNICEF's work in Syria on its website here:
UNICEF Syrian Arab Republic

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Body (OCHA) aims to strengthen the international response in complex emergencies. In Syria, OCHA facilitates coordination and support for humanitarian partners across the country to enable a timely, effective and value-based response to needs and better access to services for vulnerable Syrians. Among other things, OCHA coordinates support for the most vulnerable in hard-to-reach areas across conflict boundaries. In addition, OCHA conducts analyses in support of operations, and also advocates on behalf of humanitarian actors locally and globally.

Example of project
Denmark supports the OCHA-facilitated "Syria Cross-Border Humanitarian Fund". The fund is a multi-donor fund set up in 2014 to find alternative ways to provide humanitarian assistance in Syria. The fund enables partners, including the Red Cross, Red Crescent organizations and, in particular, Syrian civil society organizations, to expand and support humanitarian aid across borders and lines of conflict. The purpose of the fund is to provide predictable, timely and continuous support to partners who work to provide life-saving and life-preserving activities with a focus on the most urgent needs and with a special focus on underserved areas.

Read more about OCHA's work in Syria on its website here:

Syrian Arab Republic | OCHA (unocha.org)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plays a crucial role in promoting protection and lasting solutions for refugees worldwide. UNHCR is Denmark's largest humanitarian partner, and we support e.g. the organization's efforts in Syria, where the organization, among many other things, provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to internally displaced and conflict-affected communities. UNHCR supports vulnerable Syrians in four core areas: 1) enhanced protection and reduction of vulnerabilities through psychosocial support, socio-economic activities, etc., 2) enhanced access to shelter for both internally displaced and returned refugees, 3) provision of basic emergency items such as mattresses, blankets, water containers , cooking items and hygiene packages, etc., and 4) strengthened access to health and education.

Example of projects
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Denmark has supported UNHCR's efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Syria. It has e.g. included the supply of medical equipment, protective equipment, the establishment of isolation and quarantine areas, capacity building, the design of guidance materials and cash contributions to vulnerable refugees.

The crisis in Syria remains the largest displacement crisis in the world with 5.6 million Syrian refugees registered by the UNHCR in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Together with the UNDP, the UNHCR leads the regional "Syria Crisis Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP)" and coordinates the efforts of 270 partners. Over the years, Denmark has been a stable contributor to UNHCR's efforts in the region, which in addition to coordination has included a wide range of activities focused on protection and lasting solutions. As part of this, UNHCR, for example, has provided 121.5 million dollars in cash contributions to about 1.7 million Syrian refugees in the region in the period January - September 2021, as well as 2 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons received assistance to cope through the winter in early 2021. UNHCR plans to reach around 2.8 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons with similar assistance in the winter of 2021/22.

Read more about UNHCR's work in Syria on its website here:
UNHCR Syria

The United Nations Population Program (UNFPA) works to improve reproductive health worldwide. In Syria, UNFPA works on the basis of three overarching goals: 1) to prevent maternity deaths, 2) to meet the needs of family planning, and 3) to combat gender-based violence. To achieve these goals, UNFPA invests in national and local social and health systems, as well as the capacity of NGOs to provide such services. As UN Women is not present in Syria, UNFPA is also working to empower women and gender equality in the country, to reduce child marriages and to advocate for education for young people. In Syria, UNFPA has established clinics for reproductive health and gender-based violence, safe areas for women and children, protection units for families and the provision of dignity packages and other health and hygiene packages for clinics and vulnerable individuals in Syria.

Example of project
Denmark supports UNFPA's mobile medical clinics that offer sexual and reproductive health services in rural Syria, where such services are necessary to avoid birth mortality. The clinics enable the women to receive the necessary medical care, medicine and health services, among other things in connection with pregnancy, without having to travel to the larger cities, far from the villages, where such services are sometimes not available at all. The clinics may be the only lifeline for women in need, offering security, confidentiality and reliable doctors.

Read more about UNFPA's work in Syria on its website here:
UNFPA Syria |

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) aims to eradicate poverty from the planet by assisting countries in developing their local capacities in order to become independent and achieve long-term prosperity. UNDP is present in all of Syria's 14 governorates to support the Syrian people through a multi-sectoral effort aimed at strengthening the resilience of Syrians during the crisis. UNDP does this by supporting the population with essential services, restoring infrastructure, developing livelihoods and income-generating opportunities, as well as focusing on the population's economic recovery and social cohesion. In 2019, UNDP and its partners implemented 162 local projects that benefited more than 3.6 million Syrians.

Example of project
Denmark supports UNDP Syria in its work to strengthen the social cohesion of Syrian communities with many internally displaced persons. This is done by gathering people for the maintenance of cultural-historical effects and traditions and thereby laying the foundation for a new and inclusive unity. Some of the specific activities are to strengthen a sense of responsibility and values through storytelling, which is also a tool to start a dialogue about similarities and differences, to strengthen people's sense of belonging through traditional, collective city gardens, shadow theater, 'tourist tours' in their own neighborhoods and traditional woodcarving and other crafts. The activities are linked to communal dining, where participants merge diversity through the exchange of food culture and traditions.

Read more about UNDP's work in Syria on its website here:
UNDP in Syria

Denmark supports the Syria Resilience Consortium (SRC), which is an association of six civil society organizations that support the resilience of internally displaced persons and local communities in Syria. The consortium is an important element in seeking and developing new ways of providing more sustainable assistance to the Syrian people within the framework of applicable principles of assistance to Syria. The SRC was set up in 2015 and its support reaches at least 65,000 Syrians annually. SRC supports Syrians in need of help feeding themselves and their families, thereby relying less on harmful survival strategies. In addition, they become less dependent on emergency aid, and more economically and socially resilient to withstand prevailing shocks and stressors.

The six organizations are Care Norway, Mercy Corps, Humanity Inclusion, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Danish Refugee Council and Norwegian Refugee Council. SRC is also supported by Norway, Sweden, the EU and Canada.

Read more about the Syria Resilience Consortium on its website here:
SYRIA RESILIENCE CONSORTIUM