In northwest Syria, nine out of ten children are malnourished. Photo: Delil Souleiman/CARE
In northwest Syria, nine out of ten children are malnourished. Photo: Delil Souleiman/CARE
In 2023, malnutrition in northwest Syria soared to critical levels, with the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate tripling since 2019 to nearly 5%. Today, 20% of children are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, while half of the women and children in northern Aleppo suffer from anemia.
The numbers paint a grim picture, but behind these statistics are real families like Sama’s, struggling to survive, and real, life-saving impact from cash assistance. But it’s not enough.
Amid these dire conditions, Sama, a 52-year-old mother of three, describes what it’s like to live day by day with no certainty of how to feed her children.
“Before the war, I herded sheep to provide for my children. Now, I work as a school cleaner, but my salary is so low I have to rely on neighbors for food. I can’t afford a gas cylinder for cooking, and I’ve had to sacrifice my own medication to make sure my children are fed and educated.”
In response to this escalating crisis, CARE, together with the Shafak Organization and funded by the European Union, launched a cash assistance project in northern Aleppo in April 2024.
The project began in April 2024 and will continue until February 2025, offering a critical lifeline to thousands of families like Sama’s.
“When the project started, I finally felt some relief,” Sama says. “I could buy food and medicine for my children. It has changed our lives and given us some comfort in these difficult times.”
However, as winter approaches, Sama’s fears deepen.
“I haven’t saved enough for heating or warm clothing,” she says. “The only preparation I’ve made is gathering wool blankets and plastic bags to burn in the heater. I hope the aid continues because without it, I don’t know how we’ll survive the winter.”
In northeast Syria, the crisis takes a different form, with a severe lack of healthcare crippling the population.
Rana, a mother of six, lives in a school building converted into a collective shelter. Her family shares a single classroom with another family, separated only by a thin plastic sheet. The limited healthcare services they receive are barely enough to cover women’s health, with no pediatric care available for her children.
“Healthcare is the most important thing now,” Rana says. “We can’t afford medicine. When we get sick, we just suffer through it.”
The healthcare crisis in northeast Syria is growing worse each month. Families walk miles just to reach medical centers, only to find them under-equipped and overwhelmed by the number of patients.
The challenges facing families like Sama’s and Rana’s are part of a larger humanitarian catastrophe gripping Syria. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria is woefully underfunded, with only a fraction of the resources needed to meet the basic needs of millions. The cash assistance project in northern Aleppo is a critical stopgap, helping families put food on the table, but it’s not a permanent solution.
In northeast Syria, the situation is even more urgent. The healthcare system is teetering on the brink of collapse, with less than 50% of facilities expected to remain operational by the end of the year if funding doesn’t increase. For families like Rana’s, this means a future of uncertainty and suffering unless the international community steps in with support.
“We need longer-term funding and sustained cross-border access to help communities recover from the multiple shocks and stresses they have endured for over a decade now,” says Rishana Haniffa, CARE Türkiye Country Director, “Programs that deliver economic support and education services as well as basic needs such as durable shelter with access to water, electricity, healthcare have shown to reduce communities’ dependency on aid and ability to rebuild their lives.”
The stories of Sama and Rana are a reminder of the human toll of Syria’s crisis. CARE’s cash assistance and healthcare support are providing critical lifelines, but the need far exceeds the resources available. By supporting CARE’s efforts, you can help ensure that families receive the aid they desperately need.
