Syria

Mobilising emergency response in Northern Syria following the earthquake

On Mon 6th Feb 2023, a devastating earthquake struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria as 18 million people slept. 46,000 people, including 31 GOAL staff, lost their lives in the earthquake. The earthquake destroyed over 10K buildings in Idleb and Aleppo in NW Syria. And up to 55K families who were already displaced because of the ongoing conflict in Syria, have been displaced again.

This extensive damage to buildings thousands, including small children and the elderly, exposed to harsh weather conditions and without access to shelter and relief items in the midst of winter.

Priority needs include shelter, medical supplies, water, sanitation, food, cash, and psychosocial support. GOALs Teams on the ground were quick to respond to carry out scoping missions, coordinate with local government and humanitarian structures, engage with local partners and deliver lifesaving assistance.

Rehabilitating essential WASH infrastructures

Prior to the earthquake GOAL’s Resilient Health programming in Syria focused on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities. GOAL supported the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of water networks in Idleb Governorate in order to help deliver safe, potable water for conflict-affected displaced and host communities. The 64 water stations that GOAL supported, provided sustainable access to clean, piped drinking water for more than 800,000 people.

Immediately after the earthquake, GOAL Teams were rehabilitating water services in areas where water systems had been damaged and delivering water trucking to ensure essential access to water services.

Bakery support following the earthquake

Prior to the earthquake, GOAL was one of the largest operators of food security programming in Northwest Syria. Our activities in this sector focused on supporting conflict-affected communities in Idleb and Aleppo Governorates via modalities of assistance that respond to the needs and capabilities on the ground as effectively as possible.

Our programming also addressed persistent food insecurity, providing 50 per cent of the flour and yeast inputs of more than 20 local bakeries in Idleb Governorate to help supply bread at almost half the market price for around 300,000 people.     

After the earthquake, GOAL Teams in Northwest Syria restarted all their existing bakery programmes, delivering flour and yeast to contracted bakeries and bakeries to produce subsided bread and address food shortages and started working on bakery rehabilitation for those with operations damaged by the earthquake. 

Safeguarding and Protection

In Syria, 199,000 people have been reached with Covid-19 awareness and prevention information and distribution of hygiene kits. GOAL is also working with communities to enable the implementation of Social Behaviour Change interventions; strengthening of community referral systems; and facilitation of Community Led Action (CLA) processes. We have adapted the WASH campaign to ensure continuation of water supply to those in Northwest Syria.