As we write, our organization, Mercy Corps, has confirmed the first death of a child from cholera in 2024 in northwest Syria. The case occurred in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in northwest Syria. For those of us working on these issues, it is telling that the first reaction is not surprise but resignation — a grim acknowledgement that what aid organizations feared and projected is now coming to pass. With humanitarian funding for Syria decreasing and needs growing, there simply aren’t enough resources to mitigate and prevent further dire impacts, including a full-blown public health disaster.
The prevalence of waterborne illnesses is increasing in Syria and household diseases are spreading, causing further devastation for already vulnerable Syrians. This is particularly true in IDP camps, where the most socio-economically vulnerable families live – more than 2 million in a total population of 5.1 million living in northwest Syria today. This is the grim reality even in areas where water is accessible, as what little remaining infrastructure exists is insufficient to serve the needs of a growing population.
In other parts of Syria, where there simply is no water at all, families struggle to find their path forward, amidst a multitude of risks and a seemingly endless series of “choices” that actually offer no good options. After 13 years of conflict, when most of the world’s focus on the Middle East is on security rather than basic survival, the people of Syria need and deserve sustainable water solutions.
The 2024 Humanitarian Needs Overview by the United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator highlights that 16.7 million people in Syria need humanitarian aid – the highest number recorded since the crisis began in 2011, as the country began its slide into civil war. Of those, more than 80 percent, or 13.65 million people, are in need, specifically, of water, sanitation, and hygiene support. The reasons are multifaceted and compounding. The initial years of war damaged water systems across Syria. The 2023 earthquake further exacerbated these issues, particularly in northwest Syria. Just a few weeks ago – on August 5 — Turkish airstrikes in northeast Syria hit a water station, a kind of attack that left the population with longer-term consequences on their right to access water.
The conflict, coupled with staggering hyperinflation and the economic decline across Syria, has limited operational capacity and halted routine maintenance of water systems, as communities and de facto authorities stretch already limited resources to meet a myriad of needs. Additionally, low precipitation and years of drought have impacted both the quality and quantity of available water resources.
Sufficient Water in Only Half of Households
A combination of poor planning, limited investment, fragmented regulation, and varied enforcement have led to exploitation, damage or contamination, and overuse of the limited water resources that remain. At the start of the year, only half of households in northern Syria reported having sufficient water supply in the previous month, according to the U.N. humanitarian affairs coordinator’s report. This number is likely higher today given the reduction in humanitarian funding, particularly in northwest Syria after many earthquake-response programs finished, as well as the extreme heat of the summer months, which leads to additional water consumption and increased evapotranspiration of water supplies.
Syria is often a forgotten humanitarian crisis, particularly because many longer-term solutions are tied up in the intractability of a political resolution that seems out of reach. When faced with so many intertwined challenges and geopolitical complexities, even donor governments that continue to fund Syria’s humanitarian needs tend to favor simpler interventions such as trucking water into camps. The more sustainable solutions, such as repairing water lines and water infrastructure, can be perceived as too close to the line of “reconstruction,” which is not allowed under U.N. resolutions until there is a political solution. In some areas where tensions are particularly high, we see communities devolve into bitter conflicts over the scarcest of resources.
Unfortunately, this focus on short-term essentials, as necessary as they are, perpetuates the problem by not addressing the underlying need for recovery. It underscores the need for community-led, sustainable solutions so Syrians can move forward. In the current water scarcity crisis, which affects public health, future food production, and overall quality of life in Syria, it is vital that policymakers and humanitarian implementers alike shift the focus from short-term relief and empower those directly affected.
Community-Led Decision-Making
In practice, this could be done by working through a series of steps to enable community-led decision-making and action, resulting in more durable solutions to water and hygiene concerns. Through Mercy Corps’ CATALYSE approach in northern Syria, we have established committees that prioritize needs and implement projects accordingly. In one village in the northwest, a community committee decided to prioritize their efforts on water solutions, focusing in particular on their defunct local water station as a critical lifeline to access safe water. The work required an additional water pump, an elevated water tank, and more than 1,600 meters of pipeline rehabilitation, along with a community-wide awareness campaign on good hygiene practices and responsible use of water.
In northeast Syria, where there was no existing water station, community groups prioritized the lack of reliable access to water. One participant I met described how her family had to dig a hole in the street outside their home to tap into a municipal water line sporadically. Not only was this makeshift solution insufficient, but it often resulted in dirty water or poor storage of water, leading to disease. In coordination with local authorities and the community committee, new water lines were established, connecting households to a reliable water supply. Training on efficient water use, sanitation, and hygiene was also provided under the program. Reflecting on the change, one participant noted, “Water is life, and the introduction of this water system has undeniably breathed new life into our community.”
Shifting the focus from merely delivering humanitarian aid to empowering communities to define and prioritize their concerns, articulate and advocate for them with local leaders, and co-create solutions with experienced implementers who bring best practices and quality methods, not only addresses the most pressing needs on the ground, but also rebuilds the fragile social fabric in the community. Other organizations such as DanChurchAid and the U.N.’s refugee agency, UNHCR, have taken similar approaches for community-centered response and action in other sectors.
While this approach is more time-consuming, and more contentious at times, the results may be longer-lasting and demonstrate an effective method for future community-led problem-solving. By coming together and bringing about a tangible solution to a community problem, the groups are often motivated to continue their activism beyond the project. We have seen community groups established in 2022 that are still active and effectively advocating for community needs.
The challenges in Syria are not going away, but there’s a risk the funding — and therefore the humanitarian support it underpins — could. It is urgent that donor governments and policymakers prioritize community-led solutions to ensure more communities can attain water security and experience a breath of new life.