Syria Humanitarian Fund provides US$4.3 million to meet life-saving needs in Al-Hol camp in north-eastern Syria

The Syria Humanitarian Fund (SHF) has disbursed US $4.3 million to partners delivering life-saving assistance to people displaced from the last ISIL-held enclave of Baghouz in south-eastern rural Deir-ez-Zour, to Al-Hol camp, Al-Hasakeh governorate.

The SHF allocation will allow partners to provide time-critical support to displaced populations, including tents and warm blankets, safe drinking water, personal hygiene items, treatment for malnutrition as well as emergency health care. The funds will also be used to expand the capacity of the camp and make space for additional accommodation areas to be provided. Due to recent large-scale influxes, 19,000 people are currently hosted in large tents and communal areas while they wait for the camp to be expanded. “These funds will bring immediate relief to the tens of thousands being hosted inside Al-Hol camp, particularly women and children who make up 90 per cent of the camp population”, said Ms. Corinne Fleischer, the Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i.).

“Many of the most recent IDPs have arrived in extremely poor health, displaying clear signs of distress, fatigue, traumatic injuries as well as malnutrition, which pose a direct threat to survival without a rapid response”, said Ms. Fleischer.

In recent weeks, humanitarian partners have mounted a significant humanitarian response to meet the growing needs inside Al-Hol camp, with more than 42 partners now providing assistance and delivering services inside the camp. “While hostilities in Baghouz appear to have ended, the crisis is far from over; we still don’t know whether more people will arrive”, said Ms. Fleischer. “Feeding, housing, and providing essential services, including specialized protection assistance to a population this size, and for an indefinite period, requires considerable resources and a redoubling of efforts by all”.

Due to the scale and scope of the humanitarian needs in Al-Hol camp, a second reserve SHF allocation of US $12 million has been mobilized by the Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i.) in Syria to reinforce and scale up the response in health, nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation, protection and education. Disbursements will be made in the coming weeks following review and prioritization of proposals.

Weeks of intense hostilities in the Hajin and Baghouz areas of Deir-ez-Zour governorate have destroyed basic infrastructure and services and caused the population of Al-Hol camp to swell from 35,000 to more than 73,000 since February. “High-levels of explosive contamination are currently preventing safe return to these areas, while many women and children face a disconcerting and uncertain future ahead of them”, said Ms. Fleischer. “We urgently appeal to member states to make more funds available to support the response in AlHol, while also seeking durable solutions, including for their citizens. Without continued support, many women and children inside the camp, some of whom have already been exposed to extreme violence and deprivation after years of living under ISIL rule, will be exposed to unnecessary further suffering”.

The SHF, backed by donors such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark,

Luxembourg, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Jersey, Iceland, Qatar and the United Kingdom, is a key source of rapid funding and complements resources from other donors.

In 2018, the SHF allocated US $36.7 million to communities in need across Syria through support to 24 Syria-based partners and 53 projects. In 2019, 11.7 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance, and the SHF is hoping to allocate up to US$80 million, depending on available resources, to address these needs.

About the Syria Humanitarian Fund

The Syria Humanitarian Fund (SHF), initiated in June 2014, is led and managed by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Syria to support the delivery of country-led response plans inside Syria. The Syria Humanitarian Fund is primarily aligned to support the delivery of strategic humanitarian response identified under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) while retaining the flexibility to allocate funds to unforeseen events or special requirements.