Another cut in funding from the International Community will hit children in Syria and region the hardest

BRUSSELS, 28 May 2024 - A further decrease in funding from the international community for Syria and the region following the eighth annual Brussels Conference will exacerbate rising child poverty and malnutrition, said Save the Children’s Syria Response Director, Rasha Muhrez.

 “Yesterday’s announcement of 3.9 billion Euros in pledged assistance for 2024 - a 15% drop from last year’s commitment - and 1.2 billion for 2025 is another worrying decline in support from the international community to Syria and refugee hosting countries in the region. 

Once again, we have seen words affirming the international community’s support for Syria, but too little in terms of funding to turn this commitment into reality for vulnerable Syrian children, absent any other funding mechanisms that would support the resilience of children and their families.

Of the 16.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria today – two-thirds of the population - about 45% of them are children. Child poverty is now endemic in Syria. We cannot tackle this without a significant scale up in humanitarian assistance, including efforts to prevent worsening malnutrition, supporting quality education services and investing in critical basic services. We cannot do more with less.   

In neighbouring countries vulnerabilities continue to mount, with an urgent need to address barriers to children’s survival, learning and ability to achieve their full potential.  In Iraq, challenges such as language barriers and limited resources continue to hinder children’s access to quality education. In countries like Lebanon, which is experiencing one of its worst financial and economic crises since the mid-19th century, the multi-layered crisis has further exacerbated the humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations, including Lebanese, migrants and refugees. 

To avoid condemning children to a future of hardship, insecurity and fear, more early recovery efforts are needed, in line with commitments from donors at the conference. This is the only way we can help Syrian families rebuild their lives and provide the future that Syrian children across the country deserve.” 

For further enquiries please contact: 

Randa Ghazy, Regional Media Manager for North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe: Randa.Ghazy@savethechildren.org; 

Our media out of hours (BST) contact is media@savethechildren.org.uk / +44(0)7831 650409 

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