ALPHABEODESIGN

SYRIAN ARAB
REPUBLIC
Credit: UNHCR
PREPARED BYTHE WHOLE OF SYRIA ISCCG FOR THE SSG
2016
RESPONSE PLAN
HUMANITARIAN
MONITORING REPORT
JANUARY-JUNE 2016

02

UNDOF
Administered
Area
IRAQ
JORDAN
TURKEY
LEBANON
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Number of people in need
707 - 23,000
23,001 - 52,000
52,001 - 109,000
109,001 - 241,000
241,001 - 1,066,000
Sparsely populated areas
Governorate
Sub-district
MediterraneanSea
Homs
Hama
Dar'a
Idleb
Aleppo
Tartous
Quneitra
Damascus
Lattakia
Ar-Raqqa
As-Sweida
Al-Hasakeh
Deir-ez-Zor
Rural Damascus
P
P P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
Homs
Hama
Dar'a
Idleb
Aleppo
Tartous
Quneitra
Lattakia
Ar-Raqqa
As-Sweida
Al-Hasakeh
Deir-ez-Zor
Damascus
Rural Damascus
Source: OCHA
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
* Figure includes population in besieged areas
PEOPLE IN HARD-TO-REACH
LOCATIONS
4.88M
ESTIMATED PEOPLE
IN NEED
13.5M
CHILDREN IN
NEED
6M
NUMBER OF FOOD
INSECURE PEOPLE
6.7M
increased 6%, from 6.3M
in September 2015
PEOPLE IN BESIEGED
LOCATIONS
0.59M

03
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Now entering its sixth year, the conflict in Syria continues to
take a drastic toll on the lives of the Syrian people and to drive
an unprecedented humanitarian and protection crisis: some
13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and
protection services, including 6 million children. Since 2011, as
entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed, over half of Syria’s
population has been displaced, often multiple times. With host
countries now providing refuge to some 4.8 million Syrian
refugees, the crisis is also having an immense social and economic
impact on Syria’s neighbors. As refugee flows have increased,
Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan have increasingly restricted the
admission to their territories, leaving hundreds of thousands
stranded on Syria’s borders in often desperate conditions.
2016 commenced with widespread hostilities across the country,
which intensified in the lead up to political negotiations in
February. After the “cessation of hostilities” agreement came
into effect at the end of February, the level of conflict noticeably
diminished in some areas and brought temporary respite to
affected people, with the notable exception of Aleppo and
Daraya. In addition, the combination of international support
through the International Syria Support Group and reduced
fighting enabled increased cross-line humanitarian access to
besieged and hard-to-reach areas. As of April however, the
level of conflict gradually increased across areas covered by the
cessation of hostilities agreement, while operations against ISIL
were stepped up. Throughout the reporting period, parties to
the conflict continued to impose punitive sieges and blockades,
engage in disproportionate attacks against densely-populated
areas, and target civilians and civilian infrastructure, including
medical facilities, markets, bakeries, and schools. Humanitarian
staff and warehouses were also severely affected.
The temporary lull in hostilities and pause in aerial
bombardment between February and April led to a decrease of
rapid-onset displacements, although an estimated 900,000 people
were still forced from their homes or areas of residence in the last
six months. As of mid-2016, the estimated number of internally
displaced in country is 6.1 million people, down from 6.5 million
in October 2015. Alongside calls for greater international burden-
sharing, neighbouring countries have increasingly restricted
admission to their territories, leaving hundreds of thousands on
Syria’s borders in deplorable conditions, including an estimated
100,000 IDPs in Azaz and, according to Government of Jordan,
92,000 people at the ‘berm’, on Syria’s southeastern border with
Jordan. Meanwhile, in response to over one million new arrivals
on European shores in 2015, almost half of whom were Syrian,
the European Union (EU) entered into a far-reaching agreement
with Turkey, which agreed to take back all “irregular migrants”
who cross to the Greek islands after 20 March.
Although the overall level of conflict across Syria has gradually
increased since April, humanitarian access to people living
in besieged and hard-to-reach areas significantly improved
as compared to the same period in 2015. Notably, since the
beginning of January until the end of June 2016, cross-line inter-
agency convoys reached a cumulative total of 649,585 people in
all 18 besieged locations in Syria, in some cases multiple times
(net total is 354,150). Nonetheless, bureaucratic hurdles continue
to hinder operations, while increased fighting has precluded
access to a number of besieged areas in the last months due
to difficulties securing humanitarian pauses. Cross-border
operations continued largely unimpeded during the escalation of
conflict in January and February. Over recent months, however,
the cross-border response has been affected – and in some cases
temporarily suspended – due to developments along Syria’s
borders with Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq.
Despite increased cross-line access to besieged and hard to reach
areas, the scale of needs in Syria remains overwhelming. Some
6.7 million people are unable to obtain the basic food required
to meet their needs and two thirds of the population do not
have consistent access to safe drinking water. Access to essential
services remains severely disrupted, with health facilities,
schools and other essential services operating at reduced
capacity or closed, despite ever-growing demand. A deep
economic recession, fluctuating national currency, unilateral
financial and economic coercive measures (sanctions), and
disruption of markets have further contributed to extreme
vulnerability of Syrians across the country. Unemployment
has skyrocketed and, as people have exhausted their savings
and resources, an estimated one in three households have
gone into debt. Child labour, early and/or forced marriage,
and recruitment of children by armed groups have become
increasingly widespread. IDP settlements – a last resort in
Syria – have expanded, while living conditions therein have
deteriorated due to inadequate space and increased insecurity.
Despite a significant funding shortfall and a multitude of
challenges on the ground, the humanitarian community
continues to respond to the critical need of crisis-affected
communities across Syria. On average, 5.7 million people have
been receiving monthly food assistance and up to 2.8 million
people have received some form of direct assistance in the last
six months, including water, hygiene and sanitation supplies as
well as support to agricultural production and other non-food
items. A further estimated 5 million people have benefited from
service-oriented interventions, such as water purification and
medical interventions, including over one million children
and youth, who benefited from learning and development
programmes. A further one million people benefited from
livelihood support and early recovery interventions.
Despite this progress, critical gaps remain: 125 sub-districts out
of a total of 272 remain underserved, with very few actors able
to provide support, and 17 have not been reached at all with any
type of assistance in the last five months. In particular, coverage
in ISIL-held areas in Deir-ez-Zor and Ar-Raqqa governorates has
remained limited and access to Al-Hasakeh is very challenging.
There are also critical gaps in assistance to a growing number
of IDPs living in improvised settlements and there is a need to
strengthen and sustain service delivery in many large population
centres and in areas where high percentages or concentrations of
IDPs are living with host communities.

04
Syria Crisis in brief
In the coming six months, priorities will include sustaining and,
if possible, increasing the scale of the response to all people
in need, including IDPs; sustaining advocacy to lift all sieges
and to access and respond to the needs in besieged, militarily
encircled, and other hard-to-reach areas, including responding
to the needs arising from the crisis in Aleppo; advocacy for
and response to the needs of the ever-larger number of IDPs
and asylum seekers concentrating at Syria’s borders; providing
assistance and protection to the estimated 6 million children
living through conflict and displacement in Syria, including
through support to the back-to-learning campaign; delivering
winterization assistance to growing populations unable to
access heating materials and adequate shelter; supporting the
upcoming winter planting season, and continuing efforts to
sustain and restore access to livelihoods and scale up service
delivery – including in the health, nutrition, and WASH sectors
– in priority locations across the country.
In the absence of a viable peace and reconciliation process
providing affected populations with a chance to start rebuilding
their lives, and with the overall level of conflict again beginning
to escalate across the country, a deteriorating economic situation,
and the increased closure of borders by neighbouring states, the
humanitarian and protection situation in Syria is expected to
deteriorate further over the coming months. Preparedness efforts
for a variety of possible scenarios will be crucial.
SYRIA CRISIS IN BRIEF
KEY FACTS AND FIGURES
450,000are
Palestine refugees,
95 per cent of whom
are in continuous need of
humanitarian aid
1.5Mpeople living with disabilities More than halfof public health
care facilities are either closed or
only partially functioning
Over 11M people require health
assistance, including 25,000
trauma cases per month
An estimated 60 per cent
of the pre-crisis health
workforce has left the country
Now estimated that vaccination
coverage may have fallen to
below 50 per cent
Almost 300,000pregnant women
are not receiving pre-natal and
obstetric care
1 in 4 schools are damaged,
destroyed or occupied
3.1M children under 5, pregnant
and lactating women are in need of
preventive and curative nutrition
services
AGRICULTUREEXTENSION,VETERINARY
ANDLIVESTOCKRELATEDSERVICES
HAVEALSOBEENCRITICALLYDAMAGED
Four out of fivepeople live in poverty
and nearly one in threehouseholds is
indebted, due mainly to food costs
Nearly 600,000people are
trapped in besieged areas,
approximately 266,000
children
4.88M in hard-to-reach
locations, 2.17M of them are
children
One in three people are unable
to meet their basic food needs
2.4M people lack access to
adequate shelter
6.1M people are internally displaced,
including 1.7M living in tented
settlements and collective shelters
2.1M children (nearly 40 per cent) are
out-of-school,
heightening vulnerability to child
labour,
early and/or forced marriage,
and recruitment by armed
groups;
Upwards of 250,000
people killed and over 1.2M
injured since the onset of the conflict (WHO)
2/3 of the population has no
consistent access to safe water95%
Of those who stayed, 13.5M
people, including 6M children,
need humanitarian assistance
8.7M people have acute needs
in multiple sectors
BY JUNE 2016, OVER 4.8
MILLION SYRIANS HAD BEEN
REGISTERED AS PERSONS OF
CONCERN IN HOST COUNTRIES,
PRIMARILY IN THE REGION
60%

05
Syria Crisis in brief
HEALTH
PROTECTION
EARLY RECOVERY
AND LIVELIHOODS
CCCM
WASH
AGRICULTURE
FOOD SECURITY
NUTRITION
NON-FOOD ITEMS
SHELTER
EDUCATION
SUMMARY PEOPLE ‘COVERED’ JAN-MAY
SECTOR/CLUSTER PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE COVERED PEOPLE TARGETED EXPLANATORY NOTE% COVERED
5.7M
2.4M
5.3M
3.1M
8.7M
12.1M
6.5M
9.2M
13.5M
11.5M
24%
14%
53%
94.7%
85%
21%
112%
29%
41%
33%
56%
n. of children and youth teachers and
education personnel benefiting from quality
education programmes
1.1M
0.16M
2.8M
1.8M
6.4 million
0.92M
16.4M*
0.93M
1.5M
3.6M
7.3M
4.6M
1.2M
5.3M
1.9M
7.5M
4.3M
14.7M
3.2M
3.6M
10.9M
13M
* At the time of reporting, some sector data was only available for the period January-May; others for June.
n. of people benefiting from shelter support
n. of people benefiting from non-food
item kits
n. of children under five years, pregnant
women and lactating mothers benefited from
the nutrition programmes
5.7 million benefiting from regular monthly
food assistance (90%) and 667,954 from
emergency food assistance (56%)
This includes a combination of agriculture
inputs, backyard farming, livestock support,
Income Generating Activities and services.
Reflects catchment population benefiting
from water system repair/treatment
n. of IDPs tracked of which 320,000 received
multisectoral assistance
n. of people benefiting from early recovery
and livelihood activities
n. of distinct protection interventions
conducted through the sector’s prevention,
response and capacity building activities
n. of medical procedures carried out

06
CHANGES IN HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
2016 started with an escalation of hostilities affecting, in particular,
Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Lattakia and Dar’a governorates, where
hundreds of thousands of people were newly displaced at the
height of conflict in February. As needs grew, humanitarian actors
were at times forced to periodically suspend day-to-day services
and/or adjust the modality of their delivery due to insecurity.
At the end of February, intensified political efforts - particularly
the Munich Conference – brought the nationwide “cessation of
hostilities” agreement into effect, causing the level of conflict
to noticeably diminish in some areas and bringing temporary
respite to people in those locations. Military operations against
ISIL and the Al Nusra Front continued however, and, since April,
the overall level of conflict began to rise gradually in areas which
had witnessed relative calm in March. United Nations (UN) and
the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) efforts to reduce
violence resulted in brief and partial “regimes of silence” in Aleppo
and other affected areas.
After a significant surge in new displacement in Dar’a and Aleppo
governorates in January and February, an overall decrease in the
level of conflict eased humanitarian needs in some locations in
March and early April, with the notable exception of Aleppo,
where conflict and targeting of humanitarians continued. Rapid-
onset, cyclical displacement due to conflict and, in particular,
aerial bombardment diminished considerably in this period.
Given the deplorable conditions throughout Syria and continued
insecurity in many locations, however, a large number of Syrians
have continued to attempt to leave the country. Meanwhile, Turkey,
Lebanon and Jordan have increasingly restricted admissions
to their territories, leaving hundreds of thousands of Syrians
displaced stranded in volatile and remote border areas. With the
humanitarian community now struggling to access and safely
deliver assistance in some such locations, the humanitarian
situation has in some cases become quite desperate.
Overall however, humanitarian access to besieged and enclaved
hard-to-reach areas within the country improved significantly
during the reporting period with 86 inter-agency convoys
undertaken to besieged and hard-to-reach locations against 50
in 2014 and 34 in 2015. Cross-border actors have also continued
to provide significant support to these areas. Notably, there was
an improvement in the number of people reached with medical
treatments in besieged and hard-to-reach areas.
Access to ISIL-held areas in Deir-ez-Zor and Raqqa governorates
remained circumscribed due to ISIL’s restrictive policy vis-à-vis
humanitarian actors as well as insecurity, though alternative
modalities for aid delivery have continued to be employed in
coordination with local actors, whenever possible.
Cross-border operations continued largely unimpeded during the
escalation of conflict in January and February and were critical in
delivering aid to affected people in Dar’a and Aleppo governorates.
Exceptionally, over recent months, the cross-border response has
been affected – and in some cases, temporarily suspended – due to
developments along Syria’s borders with Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq.
Notably, following an unprecedented vehicle-borne improvised
explosive devise (VBIED) attack on the Jordanian border guards
at Rukban on Jordan’s north-eastern border with Syria on 21
June 2016, the Government of Jordan (GoJ) sealed its entire
northern border, resulting in the temporary suspension of cross-
border operations via Ramtha for almost an entire month. While
operations are now expected to continue, the suspension has had a
considerable impact on affected people in the south of Syria. In little
over a month, 16 health facilities ran short of essential medicines
and up to 140,000 people were affected by the disruption of food
assistance. NFI stocks in southern Syria were all but exhausted.
Imports via agreed crossings also faced constraints during the
reporting period. For example, Nusaybin/Qamishli border crossing
was closed on 27 December 2015 due to security concerns on the
Turkish side, impacting heavily upon humanitarian access to Al-
Hasakah governorate, leading the UN to plan a costly air-bridge
as a last resort. As of 30 June 2016, 2 out of 4 UNSC resolution-
sanctioned border crossings were not operational.
Despite some encouraging developments, the situation remains
extremely fragile. Prospects for the coming period depend largely
on the results of the resumption of political talks, expected to take
place in August 2016.
NEEDS ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS
The scale and scope of humanitarian needs in Syria have risen
in the last six months. New IDP movements and a deterioration
of their living conditions are significant, as is the increase in the
number of people living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Three
key developments over the reporting period have also exacerbated
needs in particular areas, namely: the near-besiegement of the
city of Aleppo; the congestion of Syrians at the southern border
with Jordan; and the confinement of Syrians to a pocket near
the northern border with Turkey, following advances by the GoS
and ISIL. In addition, the number of food insecure people has
increased particularly in areas most affected by hostilities during
the last months.
0
3
6
9
12
15
Million
IDPsPIN Refugees
16-Jul
16-May
16-Mar
16-Feb
15-Dec
15-Oct
15-Sep
15-May
15-Apr
15-Mar
15-Feb
15-Jan
14-Dec
14-Nov
14-Oct
14-Sep
14-Aug
14-Jul
14-Jun
14-May
14-Apr
14-Mar
14-Feb
14-Jan
13-Dec
13-Sep
13-Apr
13-Jan

07
In June 2016, the United Nations released a revised set of
population figures for people living in besieged and hard-
to-reach areas. According to this new analysis, there are
approximately 5.47 million people in need living in besieged
and hard-to-reach areas in Syria. These include 590,200 in
18 besieged locations and approximately 4.88 million in
hard-to-reach areas. The new figure represents an increase
of 103,500 people living in areas categorized as besieged
compared to January 2016 (from 486,700 to 590,200) and an
increase of 802,356 people living in areas categorized as hard-
to-reach since January 2016 (from 4,074,042 to 4,876,398).
The reasons behind the increase in the population living in
besieged locations included: (i) the inclusion of Al-Wa’er
(Homs city) as a besieged location; (ii) the re-evaluation
of population estimates in Deir-ez-Zor, Foah and Kafraya,
Madaya and Bqine, Duma, Harasta, Arbin and Zamalka, Kafr
Batna, Ein Terma, Hammura, Jisrein, Saqba and Yarmuk and
(iii) the removal of Zabadin from besieged list, following the
Government of Syria’s retaking of the town. Reasons behind
the increase in the population estimated to be living in hard-
to-reach locations included: (i) the inclusion of Ain Al Arab
(northern Aleppo governorate), northern Ar-Raqqa, and
northern and central Al-Hasakeh; (ii) the re-evaluation of
population estimates in northern rural Homs: Talbiseh, Ar-
rastan, Ghanto, Taldu, and Harbanifse; Menbij; At Tall; and
communities in Eastern Ghouta. Meanwhile, areas removed
from the hard to reach list included: Nabul and Zahra in
Aleppo, Ziyara and some areas of As-Saan in Hama, Al-Wa’er,
Tadmor and Qarytein in Homs, Kansaba and Rabee’a in
Lattakia and Yarboud in Rural Damascus.
Increase of people in need in Besieged and Hard-to-reach areas
OVERVIEW OF HARD-TO-REACH AND BESIEGED LOCATIONS
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Tal Shihab-
Tal Shihab
Dara-
Ar Ramtha
AlNasib-
AlNasib AlNasib-
Jaber
At Tanf-
Al Waleed
Abu Kamal
Al Qae'm-
Al Ya'rubiyah-
Rabiaa'
Fishkhabour-
Simalka
Çavuşkӧy-
Ain Diwa
Nusaybin -
Quamishli
Şenyurt-
Derbassiyeh
Ceylanpinar-
Ras Al Ayn
Akçakale-
Tell Abyad
Musitpinar-
Ain Al Arab
Karkamis-
Jarablus
Cobanbey-
Al-Ra'e
Öncupinar-
Bab Al Salam
Islahiye-
Meydian-I-Ekbis
Bükülmez-
Atmeh
Cilvegözü
Bab El Hawa
Dostluk Korprsu
(Friendship Bridge)-
Allain
Aşağipulluyazi-
Ein el-Bayda
Topraktutan-
Yunesiya
Kizicat-
Samira
Yayladağı-
Kasab
Sheikh Jaber-
'Arida
Tall Kalakh-
'Arida
Jusiyah-
Al Qaa
Ham-
Sarghaya
Deir-ez-Zor
Foah
Kafraya
Maar
Az-Zabdani
Homs
Afrin
Bulbul
Jandairis
Ma'btali
Raju
Sharan
Sheikh
El-Hadid
Ain al
Arab
Lower
Shyookh
Sarin
Al Bab
A'rima
Ar-Ra'ee
Dayr
Hafir
Rasm Haram El-Imam
Tadaf
Akhtrein
Mare'
Suran
Tall
Refaat
Ghandorah
Aleppo city
(Sheikh Maqsoud)
Aleppo city
(eastern)
Zarbah
Abu
Qalqal
Al-Khafsa
Maskana
- Onaiza
Menbij Al-Hasakeh
Areesheh
Bir
Elhilu
Hole
Markada
Forty
Seven
Shaddadah
Tal
Tamer
Al-Malikeyyeh
Jawadiyah
Ya'robiyah
Amuda Qahtaniyyeh
Quamishli
Tal Hmis
Darbasiyah
Ras Al
Ain
Wihdeh
Karama
Maadan
SabkaAl-Thawrah
Jurneyyeh
Mansura
Ein Issa
Suluk
Tell
Abiad
Ash-Shajara
Moraba
Abtaa
Sayda
Abu
Kamal
Hajin
Jalaa
Sosa
Al Mayadin
AsharaThiban
Basira
Khasham
Kasra
Muhasan
Sur
Tabni
Eastern
Hart
Abul
Kusour
Aniq
Bajra
Akash
Msheirfeh
Oqeirbat
Salba
Kafr
Nabutha
Madiq
Castle
Tharwa
- Trut
Kherbet
Eljame
Harbanifse
Atshan
MurakKafr
Zeita
Ar-Rastan
Ghanto
Talbiseh
Dar
Kabira
Tir Maallah
SamalilWestern Tiba
Taldu
Sokhneh
Khan
Shaykun
Ehsem
Um Batna
Nasriyeh
Jirud
Raheiba
Deir
Qanun
Sarghaya
Dhameer
Kherbet
Elsawda
Khan Elshih
KanakerDurin
Kafr
Hoor
Nofur
Tiba
Esal
El-Ward
Kafr
Shams
Turkey
Iraq
Jordan
Lebanon
Al-Hasakeh
Ar-Raqqa
Deir-ez-Zor
Aleppo
Idleb
Hama
Homs
Lattakia
Tartous
Damascus
Dar'a
As-Sweida
Quneitra
Rural Damascus
´
Darayya
Madamiyet
Elsham
Duma
Harasta
Arbin
Zamalka
Kafr
Batna
Ein
Terma
Hammura
JisreinSaqba
Yarmuk
Damascus (Al Qadam, Al
Isali, Burza, Qaboun,
Jowbar, Tadamon,
Joret Al Shribati)
At Tall
Ein
Elfijeh
Hajar
Aswad
Misraba
Modira
Babella
Beit
Sahm
Yalda
Beit
Sawa
Qudsiya
Al-Hama
Eftreis
Hezzeh Hosh
Al-Ashary
Mahmadiyeh
Damascus
Al Masnaa-
Jdayadet
Yabous
Al-Wa'er
Kherbet
Eljame
Aqrab
Harbanifse
Talaf
Ar-Rastan
Ghanto
Talbiseh
Dar
Kabira
Tir
Maallah
Burj
Qaei
Kafr
Laha
Samalil
Tal
Dahab
Western
Tiba
Taldu
Homs
Hard-to-reach area
An area that is not regularly accessible to humanitarian actors for the purposes of sustained humanitarian programming as a result of denial of access, including the need to negotiate
access on an ad hoc basis, or due to restrictions such as active conflict, multiple security checkpoints, or failure of the authorities to provide timely approval.
Besieged area
An area surrounded by armed actors with the sustained effect that humanitarian assistance cannot regularly enter, and civilians, the sick and wounded cannot regularly exit the area.
Definitions:
UNDOF administered area
Border crossing closed
Border crossing open
Border crossing sporadically open
]
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Legend
Hard-to-reach locations
Border crossing authorised
by UNSCR 2165, 2191 and 2258
]
Hard-to-reach areas
5.47 million people in need in
hard-to-reach areas and locations,
including 590,200 in besieged locations
International Boundary
Governorate Boundary
Boundary of former Mandate Palestine
Sub-District Boundary
Besieged locations
Ein
Elshaara
Herfa
Hina
Kherbet
Elsawda
Maqrusa
Mazraet
Beit Jin
Khan
Elshih
Kanaker
Abu
Qawooq
Beit
Saber
Betima
Durin
Hosh
Elnofur
Kafr
Hoor
Nofur
Sa'sa'
Deir
Khabiyeh
Zakyeh
Rural Damascus
Rural Damascus

08
Internally displaced persons
Between January and end of June, some 900,000 people fled
their homes or areas of residence due to ongoing hostilities.
The most affected locations included northern Azaz (some
180,000 IDPs) and the Menbij area in Aleppo governorate
(about 45,000 IDPs), Dar’a (70,000 new IDPs by the end of
February 2016), and Idleb governorate (more than 30,000
in June alone). Moreover, in some areas where IDP sites had
existed for several years, in part because they were considered
relatively safe, the security situation deteriorated significantly,
causing secondary and tertiary displacement and exacerbating
vulnerability among affected groups. The most significant case
occurred in Azaz sub-district where, in February 2016, conflict
lines shifted and brought violence very close to existing IDP
sites, causing mass secondary displacement. Some 43,300 IDPs
moved from five settlements and their surroundings to areas
in and around Bab Al Salam IDP settlements and Azaz town.
Additional IDP sites in Yamiddia, Lattakia governorate, and
in Idlib governorate have been closed or rendered even more
unsafe due to their proximity to recent fighting.
Despite the significant new displacement which has taken place
since the beginning of 2016 – and especially during the height
of conflict in January and February – the total number of IDPs
remains estimated at around 6. 1 million people - down from
6.5 million people at the end of 2015. This reduction is likely
due to returns of some short-term IDPs to their areas of origin
as soon as thr security situation allows and possibly due to some
IDPs fleeing to neighbouring countries. Of these, an estimated
1.7 million people live in camps, informal settlements, and
collective centres – a last resort, as the absorption capacity of
host communities has been exhausted – while many more have
sought refuge in damaged and unfinished buildings and are
considered among the most vulnerable in Syria today. In camps,
informal tented settlements, and collective centres, overcrowding
is a major concern, and few sites have the capacity to absorb
additional IDPs. In January and February 2016, the surge in
new displacement in southern Syria highlighted this profound
shortage of adequate shelter, to the extent that some people were
forced to sleep on the streets, in shop fronts, in schools, and in
damaged and unfinished buildings in harsh winter conditions.
With many forced to leave their homes at short notice with little
more than the clothes on their backs, IDP families also urgently
required protection, food, and NFIs, which the UN and NGOs
struggled to deliver alongside continued population movements
and heightened security concerns.
OVERVIEW OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (AS OF JUNE 2016)
MediterraneanSea
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
UNDOF
administered
area
TURKEY
IRAQ
JORDAN
LEBANON
Homs
Hama
Dar'a
Idleb
Aleppo
Tartous
Quneitra
Damascus
Lattakia
Ar-Raqqa
As-Sweida
Al-Hasakeh
Deir-ez-Zor
Homs
Hama
Dar'a
Idleb
Aleppo
Tartous
Quneitra
Damascus
Lattakia
Ar-Raqqa
As-Sweida
Al-Hasakeh
Deir-ez-Zor
The boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply ofﬁcial endorsement
or acceptance by the United Nations.
NUMBER OF IDPs
15 - 15,000
15,001 - 44,000
44,001 - 140,000
140,001 - 290,000
290,001 - 668,859
Areas with no or limited
population
Creation Date: 23 /08/ 2016
Source:IDP task force
HOMS
HAMA
A'ZAZ
QATANA
ATTALL
DANA
JARAMANA
LATTAKIA
JEBEL SAMAN
DAMASCUS
OTHER 1,360,065
668,859
474,425
408,177
288,445
284,220
232,945
182,989
179,961
134,202
130,716

09
Crisis in Aleppo
As of late January, intensified fighting in Aleppo –
the second largest urban centre in Syria – resulted
in large-scale new and secondary displacement,
prompting a scaled-up emergency response.
The escalation of hostilities forced partners
to periodically suspend day-to-day services
and/or adjust their modality of delivery. For
protection partners, this included moving
community spaces underground. The repeated
halting of water pumping to Aleppo by ISIL and
the bombing of Ain Al Baida boosting station
created significant threats to the water supply of
the entirety of the city. Most of the emergency
shallow water wells in eastern Aleppo are not
suitable for drinking purposes without treatment,
due to faecal contamination. Insecurity along
Castello Road, the only access route into eastern
Aleppo City, closed the road intermittently in
the first half of 2016. Cross-border partners prepared for the
potential encirclement of eastern Aleppo City and an inter-
cluster preparedness plan was put into effect. On 7 July, GoS
and allied forces launched a large-scale offensive around the
road, cutting off humanitarian access from Bab Al-Hawa
and the western Aleppo countryside to eastern Aleppo City.
This left an estimated 200,000-300,000 people within the
area and with humanitarian assistance and commodities
unable to get in. At the time the road was cut off, there was
enough food in eastern Aleppo City for at least 1,260,000
people for one month and enough essential medical supplies
for 4-5 months. Water supply through the network and
water trucking, and limited garbage collection continued.
Fuel had been stockpiled as well, to power medical facilities,
pump water, and serve bakeries. Rationing of supplies began
immediately. The humanitarian community is advocating
for a humanitarian corridor for cross-border partners to
transport humanitarian assistance into the city, as well as for
cross-line deliveries.
Beyond this, an inter-cluster response plan following events in
north-west Syria in May and June outlines planned response
for six months for 560,000 people, including 160,000 IDPs
and 400,000 host community members, in Azaz, Afrin,
and western Aleppo sub-districts and, potentially, Idleb
governorate. This includes the recent encirclement of Menbij
town in eastern Aleppo governorate.
Syrians stranded at the border
During the reporting period, neighbouring countries,
including Jordan, have increasingly restricted admission of
Syrians to their territories, leaving hundreds of thousands on
Syria’s borders in deplorable conditions.
As of the end of June 2016, according to Government of Jordan
estimates, 92,000 Syrians were residing or stranded at Syria’s
south-eastern border with Jordan, including over 70,000 living
in makeshift tented settlements at Rukban and over 15,000
at Hadalat.1
Available information indicates that one of the
primary areas of origin of people arriving at Syria’s south-
eastern border with Jordan (the “berm”) are Aleppo, Hama
and Homs, which have been the main theatres of conflict over
the past six months. Large percentages have also arrived from
ISIL-held Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor governorates, where atrocities
remain widespread.
Following an unprecedented VBIED attack on the Jordanian
border command at Rukban on 21 June, the Government
of Jordan declared the country’s entire northeast a closed
military zone. As a result, humanitarian operations at Rukban
and Hadalat were suspended and, as of the end of June, only
water trucking resumed. On 29 June, the Government of
Jordan approved a “one-off” distribution of food within the
settlements but, at the time of reporting, discussions around
the modalities of delivery were ongoing. The attack also
impacted heavily on deliveries to southern Syria under UNSC
resolution 2165/2258, with operations via Ramtha, further to
the west, suspended for the following five weeks. Illustrating
the continued criticality of cross-border operations, within a
month of the suspension of operations, 16 health facilities in
southern Syria had run short of essential medicines and up
to 140,000 people had been affected by the disruption of food
assistance. NFI stocks in the south were all but exhausted.
In northern Syria, advances by the Government of Syria and
ISIL in northern Aleppo concentrated some 180,000 IDPs
along the border with Turkey. In February, GoS connected the
enclaves of Nubul and Zahra to areas further east, cutting off
cross-border access via Bab al Salam to Aleppo City and points
further south and west and confining these IDPs in a small
pocket in northern Azaz district. ISIL advanced westwards in
the same area in April, displacing some 40,000 people from
camps in the Souran sub-district to Azaz and the Bab Al Salam
border area. These IDPs remain at high risk as the border with
Turkey has been closed to refugees, leaving people stranded.
ALEPPO - OVERVIEW OF HUMANITARIAN ACCESS (AS OF 9 AUG 2016)
1. Based on satellite imagery and consultations with community leaders, the humanitarian community estimates that the actual number of people located on
Jordan’s northeastern border may be somewhat less than the official figure of 92,000 (50-60,000).
[·
Abu
Sfeita
Sheikh
Najjar
Aleppo
Andan
Haritan
Tal
Msebin
Afrin
Al-Mallah
Khan
Al-Asal
Kafr
Dael
Babis
Naqqarin
Tal
Hasel
Tal Abur
Tal Aran
Hur
Bshantara
Bishqatine
Terkan
Bashmra
Seifat
Majbineh
Kafr
Naha
Tiyara
Sifa
Bashkwi
Samaan
Tamura
Hayyan
Sheikh
Zayat
Shamer
Yaqed
Eladas
Muqbia
Kafr
Hamra
Kafr
Bssin
Maaret
Elartiq
Musallamiyeh
Thabiyeh
Saqlaya
Tal
Shgheib
Haddadin
Tal Sheer
Simaan
Hreibel
Wdeihi
Hilan
Khan
tuman
Little
Kafr
Qarras
Aleppo
International
Airport
Jebel Saman
Sub-district
Cast
ello
Road
Electrical transmission
center
Previous route
to Damascus
Previous route
to border crossing points
1070 Apartments
project
Rashideen Electrical
Sub Station
Aleppo
Legend
[· Civil airports
Main roads
Main locality
Other roads
from Damascus
(last used 7 August 2016)
Humanitarian supply route
from UN cross border
(last used almost one month ago)
Ramousseh Route
United Nations hub
Suleiman Al Halabi
Water Pumping Station
´
Ramousseh
Ramousseh
Route

10
Al-Hasakeh
Over recent months, Qamishli, in Syria’s northeast, has seen
increased military confrontations as various groups have disputed
control over the area. Tensions grew in March, following the
decision of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) to declare their
Self-Administration Government in order to establish a federal
system in areas under their control. Following the announcement,
Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) authorities shut down
all cross-border trade and most cross-border humanitarian
deliveries, while restricting movement of civilians and enforcing
an unofficial embargo on PYD-controlled territories. Following
this move, PYD officials released a reprisal announcement, stating
they would also be enforcing trading restrictions on the KRG. As
a result, adjacent borders were closed for almost three months
and whilst the border with KRG was partially re-opened during
Ramadan last June, political sensitivities between the two sides
of the border remain and continue to affect humanitarian access.
This, combined with the presence of ISIL surrounding the area,
has essentially led to the isolation of Al-Hasakeh governorate and
has made humanitarian access particularly challenging.
While resorting to local procurement and other very costly
and limiting alternatives, such as airlifts by the UN to
Qamishli, the overall humanitarian situation in Al-Hasakeh
has deteriorated significantly. Of particular concern is the
continuous influx of Iraqi refugees coming from Mosul in
Iraq – now estimated to be 10,000 in three refugee camps
- but also in the governorate’s main urban centres, where
large concentrations of IDPs and refugees can be found. In
its southern areas (Al-Hasakeh, Shaddadeh, Areesheh), basic
food commodities are only available in limited quantities and
at very high prices.
In light of preparations of new military offensives against ISIL
in Mosul, humanitarian actors operating in north-east Syria
are increasingly concerned with the potential consequences,
which could include a further influx of Iraqi IDPs fleeing
Mosul and seeking refuge in Syria. A full offensive in Raqqa
against ISIL could also lead to a wave of IDPs seeking refuge
towards Al-Hasakeh. Considering current humanitarian
capacities and limited access, responding to these increased
needs pose a significant challenge.
Attacks on civilian public infrastructure
During the first half of 2016, attacks on civilians and civilian
infrastructure continued, with various parties to the conflict
disregarding International Humanitarian Law. The health
sector was particularly affected with 128 attacks on health
facilities reported between January and June 2016, of which
29 have been verified and 98 are in the process of verification.
Some facilities were hit multiple times, or multiple facilities
were hit in a single day. For example, on 30 May, a number
of airstrikes impacted the national hospital in Idleb city and
a nearby ambulance fleet, killing 50 people, wounding 250
others, and rendering the hospital temporarily inoperative.
Beyond health facilities, other critical public infrastructure
was destroyed due to indiscriminate attacks and deliberate
targeting. Critical WASH infrastructure, including the
Ain AlBaida boosting station in Aleppo Governorate, was
attacked and destroyed, while parties to the conflict continued
to use water as a weapon of war. From January to May, the
education sector registered 23 attacks on education facilities
throughout the country. Market places, bakeries, agricultural
land, burning of standing crops before harvest and partners’
warehouses were also targeted by parties to the conflict
leading to a massive loss of food items, assets and production
and putting civilians and humanitarian staff’s lives at risk.
Two separate attacks on IDP settlements were also reported.
On 5 May, two rockets struck Ghita’ al Ramah II camp, a
civilian IDP settlement in Idleb governorate housing 430
families. 26 people were confirmed killed and 23 were injured.
On 14 April, ISIL overran the IDP settlement in Ekkdeh, near
the border with Turkey in Aleppo governorate. Although
no casualties were reported as the site had been temporarily
evacuated prior to the attack, the settlement was razed to the
ground, with the majority of tents burned.
Market price dynamics
Between January and March this year, prices of four key food
items - flour, sugar, rice and lentils- increased in 53 out of 86
(61 per cent) sub-districts where information was available.
The highest increases were recorded in Deir–ez Zor city (282
per cent), Qatana in Rural Damascus (211 per cent) Saraqab in
Idleb (103 per cent), Nashabiyeh in Rural Damascus (189 per
cent), Ar-Rastan in Homs (83 per cent), Salkhad in As-Sweida
(54 per cent) and Yu’robiyabin in Al-Hasakeh (52 per cent).
WFP data also reveals that, compared to April 2015, nominal
prices of wheat flour across the country increased by 51 per
cent, rice by 77 per cent, subsidized bread by 120 per cent, and
shop bread by 43 per cent. This is in line with the escalating
inflation of the Syrian Pound, which, in May 2016, reached
its lowest value since the start of the conflict. Some areas have
shown a decrease which could be attributed to the re-opening
of markets and an improved supply of goods in areas less
affected by intense conflict. These changes in food prices have
resulted in fluctuations in the cost of the Food Basket.
On the other hand, price monitoring data for the second
quarter of 2016 revealed that the cost of the standard food
basket in most besieged locations fell significantly as a result of
the humanitarian assistance provided to these areas. In June,
humanitarian access was granted to Darayya for the first time
since November 2012. In addition, the cost of the food basket
fell by 78 percent (from SYP 480,750 in May to SYP 105,300
in June) in neighboring Madamiyet El Sham. WFP’s airdrops
in Deir-ez-Zor City have also led to a fall in food prices: the
standard food basket costs 64.8 per cent less than it did in May.
The purchasing power of casual laborers (measured by Terms
of Trade) has been facing a sharp decline across the country.
For example, in April this year, casual labourers could buy
approximately 5.7 kg/wheat flour/day which is 12 per cent less
than they could buy six months ago and 14 per cent less than
April 2015. This is inevitably affecting the capacity of poor
Syrians to access basic sustenance goods.

11
Increased food insecurity
High food and fuel prices, sudden onset as well as multiple
secondary and tertiary displacements, restricted humanitarian
access, weather conditions, poor food availability, crop
failure, the depreciation of the Syrian Pound, and poor
food consumption and coping strategies have resulted in an
increase in food insecurity across Syria.
As such, the number of food insecure people has increased
from 6.3 million (as estimated in the 2016 HNO) to 6.7 million
(6 per cent increase). The number of people at risk of food
insecurity has also increased from 2.4 million to 2.7 million (13
per cent increase). Overall, there are 716,171 people considered
as people in need by the sector, bringing the total of people in
need from 8.7 million to 9.4 million – this figure will inform
food security and agriculture programming going forward. The
governorates with the highest increase in needs as per the food
security indicators are Quneitra, Dar’a, Damascus, Idleb and
Aleppo with pockets of substantial increase in needs in multiple
sub- districts across Syria. The largest overall increase of
people in need in terms of absolute number is seen in Aleppo,
Damascus, Rural Damascus, Dar’a and Idleb. The largest overall
increase in needs in terms of percentages is seen in Quneitra,
Dar’a, Damascus, Aleppo and Idleb.
Of further concern regarding food security is a mixed
agricultural outlook for the upcoming season. Water
shortages have severely compounded the impact of conflict on
local food production capacities – which, prior to the conflict,
had left Syria with an exportable agricultural surplus. Indeed,
below-average rainfall during key periods has significantly
reduced the harvest of some of Syria’s key agricultural areas,
including the governorates of Aleppo, Hama, Idleb, Homs and
Dar’a. Compounding this issue further, since the beginning
of 2016, there has been a marked increase of burning
agricultural land as a tactic of war.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian
Reform (MAAR) the November-May agricultural season
has seen a 34 per cent reduction in areas planted with wheat,
and a reduction of 15 per cent in areas planted with barley.
Preliminary results from MAAR show a remarkable decrease in
wheat production (1.3 million MT which is less than 50% of last
year’s production), even compared to the lowest level reached
in 2014. The full results from the harvesting season (completed
mid-May) are expected shortly from the FAO/WFP Crop and
Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) in Syria.
CATEGORY 1
% Increase in Food Insecure
Population
CATEGORY 2
% Increase in Population
at Risk of Food Insecurity
TOTAL
Total People in Need
(PIN)
6,351,016 2,383,925 8,734,941
2,705,433 9,451,112
HNO 2016
Baseline, September 2015
MID-YEAR REVIEW
June 2016
DIFFERENCE
6,745,678
% TOTAL INCREASE
394,662 321,508 716,171
6% 13% 8%
CATEGORY 1
% Increase in Food Insecure
Population
CATEGORY 2
% Increase in Population
at Risk of Food Insecurity
OVERALL
% increase in Population in need of
food security and livelihood assistance
15%
15%
12%
12%6%
6%
6% 11%
6%
7%
7%
7%
7%
7%0%
0%
0%
0% 0% 0%
0%
0%
1% 1% 1%
1%
1%
2% 2%2%
3%
40%
25%
15% 15%
19%
24%
13% 13%
8%
21%46%Quneitra
Dar'a
Damascus
Idleb
Aleppo
Al-Hasakeh
Rural Damascus
Ar-Raqqa
Deir-ez-Zor
Lattakia
Homs
As-Sweida
Hama
Tartous

12
NO LOST GENERATION
Launched in 2013, the No Lost Generation (NLG) is a
strategic framework for the responses to the Syria and Iraq
crises, embedded within existing planning and coordination
structures, and bringing together key partners to achieve
agreed outcomes essential for the education, protection,
wellbeing and future of children and young people affected
by these conflicts. These outcomes fall under three pillars:
Education, Child Protection, and Adolescent and Youth
Engagement. NLG provides a platform for key sectors to
collaborate in tackling issues with multiple root causes
and consequences, one of which is the urgent and growing
problem of child labour inside Syria.
FEATURE: CHILD LABOUR
Amongst the many forms of violence and exploitation facing
children in Syria, child labour is one of the most prevalent.
Absolute numbers of children are not available, but the
indications are that the proportion of children affected is very
significant: of the 5.6 million children in need, 2.1 million
(nearly 40 per cent) are out of school, heightening the risk
of engagement in child labour. The widespread decimation
of livelihoods and the economy have put immense pressure
on families trying to survive – according to the IMF over
two thirds of Syrians are now living in extreme poverty,
unable to meet basic food and non-food needs. 2016 HNO
identified child labour as a key issue of concern in 55 per
cent of surveyed sub-districts. Persistent and extreme
violence, forced displacement and family separation are
also contributing factors: for the estimated 2.17 million
children living in hard-to-reach areas and 260,000 children
living in besieged areas in particular, the survival options are
significantly reduced. The recent report of the UN Secretary-
General on Children and Armed Conflict reported high levels
of recruitment and use of children (one of the Worst Forms
of Child Labour) by several parties to the conflict, noting
that the proportion of children under the age of 15 affected
had increased significantly since the previous year; and that
payment of salaries was one of the pull factors. We now face
a situation where many children in Syria are engaged in
economic activities that are mentally, physically or socially
dangerous and which limit – or deny – their basic rights,
including their right to education.
Given the multiple push and pull factors contributing to
child labour, child protection and education actors cannot
meaningfully curb this trend alone. There is a need to
significantly scale up integrated child protection, education,
cash, early recovery and livelihood programmes to address
child labour with an immediate focus on the Worst Forms of
Child Labour such as recruitment and use by armed groups.
Work is starting now, so far this year progress has been
made in improving coordination on this issue to enable the
development and implementation of responses including
through mapping existing responses, evidence generation,
addressing gaps in service provision, awareness raising with
communities and advocacy to key influencers. In terms of
awareness raising, there has been immediate traction: one
ten-day campaign with multimedia products generated online
debate amongst 24,715 Facebook users. On the issue of child
recruitment some child protection partners have commenced
coordinating to provide specialised services for children at
risk and those formerly associated with armed groups.
NLG partners will continue to advocate for mainstreaming
responses to address child labour in other relevant sectors.
Child labour is expected to be one of the priorities of the 2017
humanitarian response.

13
Strategic Objectives: Achievements to date
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES: ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE
The 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan was elaborated with a
view towards harnessing humanitarian efforts to achieve three
key objectives: saving lives and alleviating suffering through
increased access to people in need; enhancing protection
and building national humanitarian response capacities; and
building the resilience of affected people, communities and
services as well as restoring livelihoods.
During the first half of 2016, humanitarian partners
continued to deliver life-saving assistance and reach millions
of people in need from within Syria and from across its
borders to achieve these objectives. Significant efforts were
made to identify and reach those most in need - particularly
in besieged areas, displaced people and host communities,
and those living in areas impacted by ongoing hostilities.
Despite widespread challenges, partners were generally able
to maintain and, in some cases, expand their support to basic
service delivery across the country and to increase efforts to
preserve or restore livelihoods and thereby prevent protection
risks linked to increased poverty and the exhaustion of
positive coping mechanisms.
The below presents the highlights of achievements to date.
Strategic Objective One:
Saving lives and alleviating suffering
People reached across life-saving interventions
Based on the Humanitarian Needs Overview, the 2016
Humanitarian Response Plan estimated 8.7 million people to
be in acute need of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance.
As of mid-2016, 6 million people – out of 7.5 million targeted
for food assistance – have been reached. Of these, 5.7 million
have benefited from regular monthly food assistance, while
the remainding 666,954 people received emergency food
assistance (see IDP section, below).
Some 557,000 children under five were screened for acute
malnutrition and the 7,430 children identified during screening
as suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) or moderate
acute malnutrition (MAM) received specialised treatment. As
a means of prevention, 230,300 pregnant women and children
under five also received micronutrient supplementation
(22 per cent of target). Whilst delivery of micronutrient
supplementation was insufficient, it was complemented by the
delivery of Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (LNS) which
benefited 837,700 children (92 per cent of target) for months
through health facilities’ nutrition centres and a network of
community outreach teams.
Over 7 million medical procedures were carried out by health
sector partners (56 per cent of the 13 million annual target) -
including out-patient consultations; trauma cases; and assisted
births. Most of these took place in the areas most heavily
impacted by ongoing hostilities (such as Aleppo, Idlib, Rural
Damascus, Dar’a, and Homs). The health sector also dispersed
over 7.7 million treatment courses throughout health facilities
across the country (37 per cent of 21 million annual target).
Progress was made in expanding vaccination coverage, with
83,399 children under 5 receiving DPT3 vaccination (55 per
cent of target). This constitutes a significant improvement in
the percentage of children being immunized, but still falls far
short of the total number of children requiring immunizations
considering the grave decline in vaccination rates. In addition,
an accelerated nationwide multi-antigen immunization
campaign targeting children that have not been reached by
the routine immunization programme because of the ongoing
conflict was launched during the reporting period reaching over
one million children. At the time of reporting, the campaign
is still ongoing and children will need to be administered with
three doses of the antigens.
Overall, 8 million people also benefited from direct WASH
assistance including the provision of essential hygiene items,
water trucking, household level water purification and emergency
water and sanitation infrastructure. A further 2.8 million were
reached by vector control measures such as insecticide spraying
and distribution of mosquito nets. The sector also started the
introduction of water safety plans at community and water
vendor level, including intense community mobilization,
covering 500,000 people, and implemented WASH in schools
programmes benefitting 140,000 students.
Much of the above-mentioned support was focused on
besieged and hard-to-reach locations and aimed at supporting
IDPs and host populations – as per sections below.
Delivering assistance to besieged and hard-to-reach locations
The first six months of the year saw a sharp increase in the level
of assistance reaching people living in besieged and hard-to-reach
locations - albeit from an extremely low 2015 baseline - in large part
due to a significant increase in Government approvals of inter-
agency cross-line convoys. For the first time since the crisis, all 18
besieged locations were reached, at least once, through inter-agency
convoys supplementing cross-border assistance to these areas.
Assistance provided by the United Nations through cross-line or

14
cross-border deliveries benefited millions of people in need (PIN)
- as per table below - in hard-to-reach areas with an average
per month of: 430,000 people with food (9.4 per cent of PIN);
545,000 people with medical treatment (11.9 per cent of PIN);
142,000 people with NFI (3.1 per cent of PIN) and 212,000 people
with WASH interventions (4.6 per cent of PIN). An average of
150,000 people were reached monthly in besieged areas, 28 per
cent average compared to 1.4 per cent average of people reached
in besieged areas throughout 2015. The percentage of people
reached in hard to reach areas remained similar to that of last year
at around 8 per cent.
As part of the broader effort to reach besieged and hard-to-reach
locations, a total of 86 inter-agency convoys were undertaken
between January and June 2016, compared to 50 in 2014 and 34 in
2015. A cumulative total of 1,540,010 people in need were reached
with multi-sectorial assistance (649,585 in besieged locations,
840,425 in hard-to-reach locations, 50,000 in priority cross-line
areas) since the beginning of the year until 30 June through these
inter-agency convoys. An additional 15,000 people in hard-to-
reach locations have been reached with medical supplies since
the beginning of the year (or a net total of 941,825 beneficiaries
-354,150 in besieged areas, 537,175 in hard-to-reach areas, 50,000
in priority cross-line areas - many more than once during the year).
Improvements in the sharing of location-level data during the
reporting period also provided increased visibility on deliveries
to besieged locations and enabled greater coordination
between the cross-border and cross-line response. Notably,
potential complementarity between cross-line and cross-border
actors’ efforts in the health sector in besieged areas became
identifiable, with cross-border actors and cross-line actors
providing, inter alia, a growing number of medical procedures
and a growing number of treatment courses, respectively.
Nonetheless, monitoring reports indicate that needs in
besieged and hard-to-reach areas remain particularly acute
and, over the coming months, sustaining advocacy to lift all
sieges and to access and enable scaled up and more predictable
response to the needs in besieged, militarily encircled, and
other hard-to-reach areas will remain a top priority.
Multi-sectoral assistance to IDPs
667,954 newly displaced people benefited from emergency
food assistance (short-term support of 2-4 weeks through
reduced food baskets, Ready-to-Eat rations and cooked
meals) provided by the food security and agriculture sector.
This includes repeated targeting of people who have been
displaced multiple times to different locations.
361,600 IDPs living in planned camps, informal tented
settlements, transit camps and collective centres benefited
from multi-sectoral assistance during the reporting period.
CCCM sector members were able to respond to the food (74
per cent coverage), WASH (81 per cent coverage), and shelter
(60 per cent coverage) needs of these IDPs. The sector was
also able to respond to the needs of an additional 125,374
IDPs settling in 23 newly created informal tented settlements.
IDPs in both shelters and within the community have also
been regularly targeted with preventive nutrition services
such as supplementation of micronutrients, Lipid-based
nutrients, High Energy Biscuit and promotion and counselling
services while providing curative nutrition services including
identification and management of acute malnutrition. While
communities with high numbers and/or concentrations of
IDPs continued to be prioritized for regular monthly food
assistance, basic good and service delivery efforts by all
sectors, further support is needed to such areas over the
coming period to ensure timely delivery of supplies and
expanded and sustained service delivery. This will be aided
by enhanced tracking of new population movements at the
Whole of Syria level through mechanisms established in the
first part of 2016.
Pooled fund allocations to national partners
The 2016 HRP aimed to reinforce the response capacity
of national humanitarian actors. As such, allocations of
country-based pooled funds were to increasingly prioritize
support to national actors and reach a 50 per cent target. Mid-
year, only 23.3 per cent of pooled fund allocations so far have
benefited national partners.
REACHED H2R REACHED BSG
#
LOCATIONS
REACHED
%
LOCATIONS
REACHED
Sector Food Health NFI WASH
Month # H2R # Bsgd # % # % # % # % # %
Jan 4.6mil 486,700 238,800 5.2 119,000 2.6 99,600 2.2 587,900 12.8 61,000 12 % 32 of 154 21%
Feb 4.6mil 486,700 359,000 7.8 294,000 6.4 160,000 3.5 65,882 1.4 150,000 31% 48 of 154 31%
Mar 4.6mil 486,700 364,800 8.0 623,500 13.6 155,700 3.4 176,700 3.9 102,125 20.9% 66 of 154 43%
Apr 4.6mil 486,700 625,500 13.6 675,923 14.7 168,840 3.7 165,869 3.6 204,250 41.9% 68 of 154 44%
May 398,000 8.7 841,000 18.3 60,000 1.3 128,350 2.8 130,000 21% 55 of 154 36%
June 5.47 mil 517,700 590,000 12.9 715,000 15.6 210,000 4.6 150,000 3.3 237,800 40.3% 64 of 154 41%
Average 590,200 9.4 11.9 3.1 4.6 28% 36%

15
Strategic Objective Two: Enhancing protection and building
national humanitarian capacities
Protection response
Over the last six months, 3,640,200 protection interventions
were carried out in 172 sub-districts across Syria. Protection
sector partners reached 12 of the 18 besieged locations in
2016. 79 per cent of all protection interventions occurred in
locations ranked as severity 4 and 5 in the 2016 Humanitarian
Needs Overview. 50 per cent of the protection response
occurred in the four Governorates of Rural Damascus,
Damascus, Aleppo and Idleb, with almost 700,000 reached
in Rural Damascus alone. As a result of these efforts,
357,477 children were reached with community-based child
protection and psychosocial support programmes; 28,358
women, girls, men and boy survivors of GBV were reached
through specialized services and 1,680,840 people received
education on the risks posed by unexploded explosive devices.
Monitoring of grave child rights violations, as mandated by
the UN Security Council, is continuing with close to 750
violations verified to have taken place since January. Killing
and maiming of children continues to be the most frequent
reported violation as a result of the conduct of hostilities by
all parties to the conflict, followed by recruitment and/or use
of children by all parties to the conflict.
Protection monitoring is being strengthened in 2016 across
Syria to address real time gaps in information and improve
emergency protection response. Programmes are currently
modest, but continue to grow. Community Centres and other
community-based initiatives are used to identify protection
needs; improved monitoring of the situation following local
truces is also allowing sector members to devise protection
responses where access may become possible. In addition,
two new initiatives in the south improved the quality and
timeliness of protection-related information. One is a
protection monitoring project, the other a rapid response
mechanism. Both will monitor protection indicators, follow
new displacements and provide information concerning
immediate humanitarian needs. So far, 72,173 protection
monitoring interventions were conducted, inclusive of house
visits, community visits, issues recorded and safety audits. In
the first half of 2016, the protection monitors completed a study
on civil documentation in southern Syria, which will be used to
inform programming in the latter half of 2016. The protection
sector anticipated improved reporting from these initiatives.
Building national humanitarian capacities
The protection sector has focused on improving protection
training to humanitarian actors. So far this year, there
have been 166 training activities conducted. Two new
programmes have been initiated to improve protection
training for humanitarian actors: The first programme -
the Protection Mainstreaming Task Force PRoMMS tool
Initiated by the Global Protection Cluster - aims to develop a
stronger operational understanding of the principles of non-
discrimination, meaningful access, empowerment and ‘do no
harm.’ A pilot phase is ongoing targeting six agencies providing
health, S/NFI and FAS services in Syria. Sector members
have initiated a capacity-building programme open to NGOs
working in all sectors to strengthen protection capacity. In
southern Syria, a second training programme aims to build the
capacity of NGOs to monitor protection issues in their daily
work, and thus contribute towards a community protection-
monitoring network. From Damascus, a task force has been
formed to streamline protection mainstreaming, with NFI,
Health, FAS and Education sectors analyzing protection gaps
and developing guidelines specific to the response. HLP is an
agreed focus of protection and shelter, in light of returns and
reconstruction when and where the conditions permit.
Mainstreaming protection in the humanitarian response
In an effort to improve ‘do no harm’ and conflict-sensitive
programming, protection policy and guidance was developed
by the protection sector to guide the humanitarian response.
Examples include the development of guidance to operational
partners on humanitarian evacuations, protection of civilians
stranded at the border, and civilians on the move. Protection
staff are now regularly participating in inter-agency (IA)
convoys, something that has proved critical to improve the
understanding of issues affecting civilians in besieged and
hard-to-reach locations. Protection is also a standing agenda
item in HCT discussions.

16
Strategic Objective Three:
Strengthening service delivery and resilience
The 2016 HRP underscored the humanitarian community’s
recognition of the importance of strengthening the resilience
of affected communities, households and individuals through
measures, which protect and restore livelihoods, enable access
to essential services and rehabilitate infrastructure. In February
2016, partners at the London Pledging Conference re-affirmed
the importance of promoting a resilience-oriented approach
and advocated more support to livelihoods inside Syria.
People in need supported with livelihoods
interventions
During the reporting period, a number of sectors made
substantive efforts to build resilience and restore access to
livelihoods. For example, food security and agriculture sector
partners reached almost one million people (out of 4.3 million
targeted) with livelihood interventions. These included the
distribution of seeds and agricultural inputs to 59,899 households
in 66 sub-districts in 8 governorates. As per the seasonal calendar,
it is expected that this activity will be further scaled up during
July and August to meet the winter planting season. As of May,
FAS partners had also provided inputs to support backyard food
production (e.g. vegetable seeds and pesticides) to 26,013 IDP
and resident households in six governorates. Support for asset
building and production of small livestock was provided to
7,458 households in 8 governorates and FAS partners provided
animal feed and drugs to 35,458 households, enabling over
one million animals to be treated or vaccinated. A number of
partners provided income generating activities support to 17,105
households to help enhance income generating capacity. Finally,
6,620 households in 13 sub-districts benefitted from cash-for-
work activities.
The early recovery sector also focused on specific measures
to promote early recovery and resilience and/or restore access
to livelihoods. These were implemented in 10 governorates;
activities included debris and waste management services and
socio-economic support to small and medium sized enterprizes
(SMEs) and self-reliant, crisis-affected groups, with particular
rehabilitation and livelihood interventions to support people
with disabilities, female- headed households and other vulnerable
groups. In total, 13,719 people received livelihood support;
and 6,607 jobs were created in infrastructure rehabilitation and
restoration. In addition, an integrated rehabilitation programme
targeting people with disabilities, whereby various services
(including disability aids, physiotherapy and livelihoods support)
reached 864 people with disabilities.
Despite progress in delivering targeted livelihood interventions
during the reporting period, restoring and sustaining access to
livelihoods and income-generating opportunities, especially
among vulnerable groups, remains an immense challenge in
Syria. Continued efforts to expand livelihood programming,
building upon successful pilots implemented over the past six
months, are recognized as critical in the coming period.
People in need with increased access to basic social services
Following the London Conference, an increase in funding
for early recovery activities was noted, compared to previous
years (32.7 per cent funding). As a result, progress was
made in enhancing service delivery and basic community
infrastructure across sectors. Notably, ERL sector partners
supported 1,478,360 people with better access to basic and
social infrastructure and services.
Significant progress was also made in strengthening service
delivery in specific sectors. For example, Protection sector
partners delivered 41,846 Mental Health and Psychosocial
Support Services (MHPSS), in conjunction with 331,676
socio-economic and 47,535 material support interventions. In
addition, since the end of 2015, the number of new community
centres has increased from 30 to 51; outreach volunteers
from 520 to 1,200; and 15 women’s safe spaces have become
operational, allowing partners to address needs in a more
comprehensive way.
While attacks on health facilities and access constraints
often undermined or constrained their efforts, Health and
Nutrition sector partners also made considerable efforts to
strengthen health and nutrition services during the reporting
65 percent of households
have incurred debt over the
last 12 months - almost all
borrowed from family,
friends or community members. The
main reason that people borrowed was
to access food.
THE CONFLICT HAS HAD A
CATASTROPHIC IMPACT ON THE
ECONOMY, EXACERBATING THE
EXTREME VULNERABILITY OF
PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Livelihoods have been devastated
across sectors. Over half the
working age population is now
unemployed, with loss of income
affecting millions of dependents
Over three in four Syrians are now living in
poverty, unable to obtain the basic food needed to
meet their needs
65%

17
period. As mentioned, above, the Health Sector carried out,
in alia, 7.3 million medical procedures, dispersed 7.7 million
treatment courses, increased immunization coverage and
trained 8,485 health care workers. Meanwhile, alongside other
activities, the Nutrition Sector screened 557,450 children
under five for acute malnutrition, referring all identified cases
of malnutrition to therapeutic or supplementary feeding
programmes for treatment, provided 230,312 pregnant women
and children under five with micronutrient supplementation,
and reached 251,052 pregnant and lactating women with
counselling and awareness raising on breastfeeding and
complementary feeding. In parallel, over 2,499 health workers
were trained on appropriate infant and young child feeding
(IYCF) and community management of acute malnutrition
(CMAM) practices.
Finally, during the reporting period, the Education sector
reached a total of 1,130,440 people including 1,092,305 children
and youth (52 per cent girls and 48 per cent boys), 46,668
Palestine refugees, 93,312 children in besieged areas; 263,833
children in hard-to-reach areas and an additional 38,135
teachers and education personnel. Training was provided
to 4,364 teachers on the main core academic subjects, class
management methodology, and the INEE Minimum Standards
(MS) for Education in Emergencies while incentives were
provided to 8,461 teachers as a way to reinforce motivation and
increase job satisfaction and retention.
Number of socio-economic infrastructures supported
or restored
Efforts were also made in the rehabilitation of social
infrastructure. The WASH sector continued its support to
maintaining public infrastructure and, during the reporting
period, supported 709 water and sewage systems, benefiting
an estimated 16.4 million people living in catchment areas.
2,793 classrooms, including child and gender friendly WASH
facilities, were also rehabilitated across the country as well as
20 health care facilities. The NFI/Shelter sector also looked
to improve housing and community/public infrastructures,
through support to owners/tenants to sustainably repair/
rehabilitate their housing (materials, cash, voucher, cash-for-
work, local hire, etc.). During the reporting period however,
only 590 people, with the sector facing constraints to access
and insecurity, among other challenges.
For the infrastructure sector in general, power supply is
certainly the main constraint to continued service delivery.
Supplementary power via generators is extremely expensive.
Further, both the cost, as well as donors and government
restrictions, do not allow sectors to engage in the support
needed to provide to operation and maintenance (O&M) to
scale. This, together with high local market prices and limited
goods in the local markets as well as insecurity and access
restrictions, have remained a key limitation to infrastructure
rehabilitation efforts.
KEY GAPS
Despite the humanitarian community’s continued efforts
to deliver assistance to people in need across Syria, critical
gaps remain. 125 sub-districts out of a total of 272 remain
underserved and 17 sub-districts have not been reached at
all in 2016. Meanwhile, the 1.7 million IDPs now living in
camps, improvised settlements, and collective centres and
the hundreds of thousands concentrated at Syria’s borders
have ever-growing humanitarian needs and vulnerabilities. In
large population centres and areas hosting large numbers and
concentrations of IDPs, stepped-up service delivery is needed.
In addition, since late January, intensified fighting in Aleppo
– the second largest urban centre in Syria – has demanded
a scaled-up emergency response, while the escalation of
hostilities has created severe access constraints and forced
humanitarian actors to periodically suspend day-to-day
services and/or adjust modalities of delivery.
THE WAY FORWARD
In the coming six months, the humanitarian community’s
key cross-cutting priorities will include: (i) sustaining and,
wherever possible, increasing life-saving and life-sustaining
humanitarian assistance to all people in need, particularly
in conflict affected areas; (ii) sustained advocacy to lift all
sieges and to access and respond to the immense needs in
besieged, militarily encircled, and other hard-to-reach areas,
as well as responding to needs arising from the crisis in
Aleppo; (iii) working in close collaboration with humanitarian
partners in the region to address the ever-growing needs
and vulnerabilities among IDPs and asylum seekers at Syria’s
borders, where conditions are often deplorable; (iv) scaling
up service delivery in priority locations, particularly with
regards to health (completing the immunization campaign
and responding to medical emergency needs) and support to
water supply systems; (v) providing assistance and protection
to the estimated 6 million children living through conflict and
displacement in Syria, including through support to the back-
to-learning campaign; (vi) delivering assistance to growing
populations unable to access heating materials and adequate
shelter through the cold winter months; and (vii) continuing
efforts to sustain and restore access to livelihoods doubling
efforts to support the upcoming winter planting season. With
the overall level of conflict now beginning to increase across the
country, strengthened preparedness efforts are also essential.
To strengthen its approach to targeting and vulnerability to
ensure that vulnerable groups are better identified and that
their access to assistance – where gaps exist – is facilitated.

18
Indicators: Targets vs. Results to date
SO 1
INDICATOR IN NEED
(2016)
BASELINE
(2015)
TARGET
(2016)
RESULT
JAN-JUNE
STATUS
% of targets met across life-saving interventions 13.5 mil 8.7 mil
% of people reached with multi-sector
humanitarian assistance in besieged locations
390,000 - 390,000
354,150
(net)
On track – 95 per cent achieved
% of people reached with multi-sector
humanitarian assistance in hard to reach locations 4,1 mil
620,565
(incl. bsg)
-
537,175
(net)
13 per cent (Gap of 87% to reach
PIN)
% of IDPs receiving multi-sectoral assistance
6.5 mil 3.2 mil 361,600
Gaps – but data incomplete due
to reporting difficulties
Combined per cent of country-based pooled fund
disbursements allocated to national humanitarian
actors
0 50% 23.3%
23 per cent (Gap of 27% to reach
PIN)
SO 2
INDICATOR IN NEED
(2016)
BASELINE
(2015)
TARGET
(2016)
RESULT
JAN-JUNE
STATUS
# of interventions providing protection case
referral, risk mitigation, or prevention services,
including community-based, psychosocial, GBV,
HLP, and child protection responses
13.5 mil 197,477 10.89 mil 3,640,200 mil 33 per cent (Gap of 67 per cent)
# of national actors reached by capacity building
initiatives to implement protection responses,
including protection mainstreaming,risk mitigation
and front line response across all sectors
N/A N/A 12,841 people 12,841 On track - 72 per cent
SO 3
INDICATOR IN NEED
(2016)
BASELINE
(2015)
TARGET
(2016)
RESULT
JAN-JUNE
STATUS
% of people in need supported with livelihood
interventions
10 mil 17 per cent 32 per cent 26% 26 per cent (Gap of 74 per cent)
% of people in need with increased access to basic
social infrastructure and services:
10 mil - 1,850,000 1,478,360 On track - 79 per cent
- # of boys and girls (6-59 months) who receive
Lipid based nutrient
supplement (LNS)
1,830,499 437,823 915,249 700,000 Overachieved - 76 per cent
- % of school-aged children (boys and girls –
5-17 years) enrolled in formal and non-formal
education
Xxx xxx xxx 60 per cent On track - 60 per cent
# of socio-economic infrastructure supported:
- # of classrooms established, expanded or
rehabilitated
Xxx xxx xxx 2,512
- # of socio-economic infrastructures supported
and/or restored
8.7 mil xxx TBC xxx
- # of WASH systems rehabilitated/supported Xxx xxx xxx 709
- # health facilities rehabilitated and/or
reinforced
- 300 20 6.6 per cent (Gap of 94 per cent)

19
Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA):
Strengthening the protection of beneficiaries and vulnerable
community members from sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in
Syria continues to be a top priority across hubs. Addressing these
concerns remains challenging within the Syrian context due to
lack of access and ability to adequately monitor the situation. As
a result, the focus of activities so far has been to raise awareness
through training of humanitarian personnel and to expand the
network of qualified female-staffed social counseling teams,
deployed within the community centres and outside to ensure
culturally acceptable mitigating measures. Accompanying
measures for international and Syrian NGOs have been put in
place to help them deliver the eight point action plan on PSEA
and the recruitment of a full-time PSEA coordinator to act as a
resource person and facilitate the establishment of a complaints,
investigations, and referral mechanism is now underway.
Accountability to Affected Population (AAP):
Over the reporting period, humanitarian actors in different
hubs increasingly looked at ways to strengthen AAP and, in
particular, to establish more effective programme monitoring,
feedback, and complaints mechanisms. To date, efforts remain
limited – due to contextual difficulties. Nevertheless, efforts
are being pursued through various modalities such as Third
Party and Remote Monitoring. For example, from Jordan,
various partners conduct post-distribution surveys to ascertain
levels of satisfaction with assistance received and 40 per cent
of agencies have established a Whatsapp hotline or other
mechanism through which beneficiaries can report fraud, waste
or abuse, or other issues around fairness and transparency. At
the inter-agency level, partners are now looking at collating
existing materials from experienced cross-border partners and
extrapolating good practices around programme monitoring
and AAP, which can be shared across the community.
Multi-sectoral cash programming
To date, the majority of assistance in Syria has been delivered
in-kind and both sectoral and multi-sectoral cash assistance
has remained relatively small in scale – in 2015, cash
represented only 6-7 per cent of the total response for the
Food Security and Agriculture Sector.
Since the beginning of 2016, however, there is an interest
among cross-border partners and donors to expand both
conditional and unconditional cash transfer programming
in Syria to complement (but not replace) in-kind assistance.
To this end, building upon feasibility studies and market
assessments, many partners have recently initiated or
expanded multi-sectoral cash and voucher initiatives.
Available information indicates that, across Syria, cash and
voucher programming now represents 12.5 per cent
of the overall response in the NFI/Shelter sector and 7 per
cent of the food response and 23 per cent of the livelihood
response in the Food Security and Agriculture sector. Partners
are also increasingly exploring and implementing multi-
sectoral cash initiatives.
Approaches differ; in the south, for example, a number of
organisations are now providing vouchers redeemable for: (a)
cash, with a designated cash exchange and transfer (hawala)
agent; or (b) fresh produce, with a designated vendor (which,
in turn, can cash them at a designated cash exchange and
transfer agent). In situations where humanitarian actors cannot
reach communities to distribute assistance, cash and voucher
programmes have also been utilized, although due emphasis
has been placed on ensuring appropriate assessments and
ongoing monitoring mechanisms are in place to avoid doing
harm. Vouchers incorporate security features to mitigate against
forgery and fraudulent design (e.g. holograms, which distort
when photocopied or scanned, raised silicon designs and subtle
differences in certain printing areas) and barcodes enable their
electronic tracking from the point of distribution to the point of
exchange. Indeed, new technologies have enabled humanitarian
actors in Syria to utilize cash and voucher modalities with
ever-growing confidence. Nonetheless, challenges to rolling
out and expanding cash transfer programming in Syria remain,
including the need to ensure access to functioning markets,
and perceptions among donors and governments in the region
that cash and voucher programming carries greater risk than
other types of assistance - though experience to date suggests
that, while it carries certain different risks, cash and voucher
assistance is not less secure than in-kind deliveries.
While determining the best modality of delivery to
communities in Syria involves countless considerations,
both global good practices and Syria-specific examples have
illustrated how multi-sectoral cash transfer programming
places beneficiaries’ needs and voices at the forefront, providing
them with the flexibility to choose to prioritize some needs over
others. There is also strong added value in using a market-based
approach to strengthen the quality of assistance provided to the
households – for instance, when partners in Syria embarked on
in-kind distributions of clothing for children during the winter
months, it was very difficult to ensure the correct sizes were
made available for each family. Beneficiary feedback indicates
that many people prefer to receive cash assistance over NFIs
that do not always meet family needs and, despite perceptions
of risk around cash programming, in-kind distributions often
come with the same or greater risk. For example, in southern
Syria, some beneficiaries are reported to have sold or traded
in-kind assistance on the black market in order to generate cash
to meet other needs or facilitate loan repayments.
To facilitate operational coordination between actors engaged
in cash transfer programmes, dedicated technical working
groups have been established in Jordan and Turkey, bringing
together INGOs, SNGOs, donors and UN agencies (as
observers). Most agencies engaged in cash programming also
coordinate their activities through sector working groups.
PROGRESS MADE IN CROSS-CUTTING COMMITMENTS

20
KEY GAPS AND PRIORITIES
Despite progress made, significant gaps remain both
geographically and in every sector. Faced with multiple
challenges and severe funding constraints, humanitarian
actors have been forced to prioritize live-saving interventions,
which have had the highest reach in terms of numbers. In
turn, access issues and funding limitations have hampered
preventive actions and efforts to restore livelihoods and much
needed socio-economic infrastructure.
Important geographic coverage gaps remain: 125
sub-districts out of 272 remain under-served, with very few
actors able to deliver requisite assistance. A further 17 sub-
districts have not been reached with any type of assistance in
the last five months. In particular, coverage in ISIL-held areas
in Deir-ez-Zor and Raqqa governorates has remained limited
and access to Al-Hasakeh has remained challenging - and
grown even more so since adjacent borders were closed three
months ago. In an effort to ensure lifesaving assistance reached
these locations, as measure of last resort, the UN commenced a
series of high-altitude air drops to Deir-ez-Zor City on 10 April
and airlifts from Damascus to Qamishly on 9 July. Nonetheless,
coverage in these areas, along with Raqqa governorate, remains
inadequate, with many sub-districts only reached by one sector
or not reached at all.
There are also critical gaps in the provision of
assistance to IDPs, especially those living improvised
settlements, overcrowded collective centres, and damaged and
unfinished buildings. 56 per cent of IDP collective shelters
remain underserviced with only one off support delivered
in the past 6 months. Serious gaps also persist in the shelter
response – particularly at household level - with only 13 per
cent of the 1.2 million people targeted for assistance reached.
Capacity gaps in specialized protection services – including
GBV, legal protection and HLP also continue to be a key
challenge to protection response
Sustained preventive and therapeutic service delivery
is needed, particularly in besieged areas, large population
centres and areas where high percentages or concentrations of
IDPs are living with host communities. There is an increasing
need for medicines, especially for non-communicable
diseases, across Syria. Lack of routine immunization services
in large parts of the country, particularly northern, eastern
and southern Syria is also a key concern as well as gaps in
the availability of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care
(EmONC) at health facilities. Lack of electricity remains
the main challenge for water provision across the country.
Increased unregulated water alternatives pose significant risks
to public health. Increased supply of chlorination devices
combined with maintenance and rehabilitation of water
supply system remains a priority.
2.1 million children remain out of school and a further
1.4 million are at risk of dropping out. Improving the
quality of education through teacher training and sustained
programming in schools remains a challenge (only 13 percent
of target met). Access to learning materials and supplies is low
with only 15 percent of the targeted children having received
text books and school supplies. The 2016-2017 back to school
campaign will start shortly targeting 2 million children.
Over the remaining six months, as an unimaginable
humanitarian and protection crisis continues to unfold on the
ground, the humanitarian community in Syria will strive to
address the most crucial gaps in the response, including:
• sustaining and, wherever possible, increasing life-saving
and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance to all people in
need, particularly in conflict affected areas;
• sustained advocacy to lift all sieges and to access and
respond to the immense needs in besieged, militarily
encircled, and other hard-to-reach areas, as well as
responding to needs arising from the crisis in Aleppo City;
• working in close collaboration with humanitarian partners
in the region to address the ever-growing needs and
vulnerabilities among IDPs and asylum seekers at Syria’s
borders, where conditions are often deplorable;
• scaling up service delivery in priority locations, particularly
with regards to health – completing the immunization
campaign and responding to medical emergency needs - as
well as support to water supply systems.
• providing assistance and protection to the estimated 6 million
children living through conflict and displacement in Syria,
including through support to the back-to-learning campaign;
• delivering assistance to growing populations unable to
access heating materials and adequate shelter through the
bitterly cold winter months;
• continuing efforts to sustain and restore access to
livelihoods doubling efforts to support the upcoming winter
planting season;
Beyond geographical and sectoral gaps, the humanitarian
community will also look to strengthen its approach to
targeting and vulnerability to ensure that vulnerable groups
are better identified and that their access to assistance – where
gaps exist – is facilitated. With the overall level of conflict
now beginning to increase across the country, strengthened
preparedness efforts will also be essential.

21
CHALLENGES
Access and security constraints remain the largest
impediments faced by the humanitarian community in
reaching vulnerable communities with life-saving relief
supplies inside Syria. The operating environment remains
volatile, negatively affecting the provision of services to the
humanitarian community.
In northern and southern Syria, challenges in response
delivery are impeded by limited accessibility and constraints
on safe movement of staff due to insecurity. There are active
military fronts between the Government of Syria and Non
State Armed Groups (NSAGs) in various areas that render
humanitarian space challenging. Within Syria, obtaining
approvals/authorizations/facilitations letters for projects or
supply deliveries can be a lengthy process that has sometimes
resulted in delayed implementation.
There continues to be a need for long-term capacity-building
initiatives to strengthen the capacity of partners working on
specialized areas, such as legal assistance, child protection
and GBV. Technical capacity and partnership opportunities
remain obstacles to substantively scaling up and diversifying
protection services across Syria.
The HRP remains largely underfunded. Improved cross-line
access has increased the need for readily available supplies,
increasing the need for additional funds.
OPPORTUNITIES
Positive changes have seen the access of humanitarian actors
to an increasing number of besieged and hard to reach areas
from Damascus to deliver life-saving assistance – including
preventive nutrition services to women and children - to
affected population since February 2016.
There is a possibility to scale up the humanitarian response
in several areas thanks to growing capacities including
through the expansion of humanitarian presence and ability
to deliver services.

22
FUNDING ANALYSIS
MULTISECTOR
COORDINATION
CLUSTER NOTYET
SPECIFIED
HEALTH
PROTECTION
EARLY RECOVERY
AND LIVELIHOODS
CCCM
WASH
LOGISTICS
FOOD SECURITY
NUTRITION
EMERGENCY
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SHELTER/NFI
EDUCATION
Required vs. Received to date (Million $US)
FUNDING ANALYSIS
SECTOR/CLUSTER
TOTAL
FUNDING
AVAILABLE (HRP)
REVISED
REQUIREMENTS
FUNDING REPORTED
OUTSIDE HRP
%
GAP
84,257,965
45,169,092
0
12,603,461
416,496,185
7,530,879
52,446,927
2,033,800
52,705,208
35,810,380
72,221,289
251,012,077
14,910,953
1,047,198,216
3,279,756
16,198,129
245,403,199
1,154,902
1,048,218
19,269,911
31,660,074
201,715,653
8,489,944
79,571,410
607,791,196
58%
91%
100%
75%
63%
50%
79%
92%
65%
85%
83%
75%
66%
200,239,557
525,184,835
1,339,640
51,174,627
1,238,918,095
15,039,153
252,048,010
25,447,375
148,470,742
235,979,938
440,839,104
0
58,673,597
3,193,354,673
Source: Financial Tracking Service (FTS)

23
CLUSTER
ACHIEVEMENTS
Protection
Camp Coordination & Camp Management
Early Recovery and Livelihoods
Education
Food Security and Agriculture
Health
Nutrition
Shelter and NFI
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
Logistics

24
PROTECTION
PROGRESS TOWARDS
CLUSTER OBJECTIVES
The protection sector response strategy
for 2016 aims at increasing the protection
of affected people at risk from the
consequences of violence including
through the provision of quality
specialized services and by reducing
the impact of explosive remnants. The
protection sector continues to diversify
its response and presence based on the
2016 Humanitarian Response Plan. In
February 2016, the Jordan Hub Protection
Working Group was formally established,
which has led to improved protection
analysis and operational coordination
for protection actors in southern Syria.
Progress is also being made towards
integrating Lebanon and Iraq based
partners into the protection response.
In the first six months of 2016, progress
was made towards the protection sector’s
objectives. Overall, the protection sector
conducted 2,232,985 interventions in 172
sub-districts across Syria. Protection sector
partners have also reached 12 of the 18
besieged locations in 2016 while, overall,
87 per cent of protection interventions
have been organized in locations ranked as
severity 4 and 5 in the 2016 Humanitarian
Needs Overview. 72 per cent of the
protection response has occurred in the
governorates of Rural Damascus, Damascus,
Aleppo and Idleb, with over 600,000 people
reached in Rural Damascus alone.
Protection monitoring
Monitoring of grave child rights
violations, as mandated by the UN
Security Council, is continuing with
close to 650 violations verified to have
taken place since January. Killing and
maiming of children continues to be
the most frequent reported violation as
a result of the conduct of hostilities by
all parties to the conflict, followed by
recruitment and/or use of children by
all parties to the conflict.
Further, protection monitoring and
operational coordination analysis
improved, particularly in southern
Syria, where a protection monitoring
initiative was rolled out and rapid
response assessment mechanism was
established. Similar initiatives are in
place to support ongoing monitoring
efforts in northern Syria and to assess
needs during inter-agency convoys.
Community-based protection
services
Significant advances were made in
the expansion of community-based
responses across the country. Across
Syria, 41,846 Mental Health and
Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS)
have been provided by partners,
with 136,223 counselling services
provided to persons and community-
based services provided to groups.
331,676 socio-economic and 47,535
material support interventions have
supported this. Since the end of 2015,
the number of new community centres
has increased from 30 to 51; outreach
volunteers from 520 to 1,200; and
15 women’s safe spaces have become
operational, allowing partners to
address needs in a more comprehensive
way. In some governorates, state
services are being mapped, along
with those provided by humanitarian
partners, to support referral pathways.
Gender-based violence (GBV)
Innovative IT tools have also been
developed to support the outreach
and community work for referrals
and to improve the consistency across
the response. The GBV online service
mapping tools capture the services
provided by 21 organisations to improve
the referral pathways for survivors. Efforts
have been made to establish and operate
minimum and emergency response
packages for GBV. Across Syria, GBV
partners have been able to reach 24,674
Protection
3.6 Million People covered
10.9 Million People targeted
13.5 Million People in NeedKey Indicators
# of girls, boys, women and men participating
in structured and sustained child protection and
psychosocial support programmes, including
parenting programmes
# of women, girls, boys and men survivors
accessing specialized GBV services
# initiatives incorporating protection analysis and
advocacy
# Beneficiaries who received Risk Education
910,374
15,740
2,952,452
357,477
28,358
19
1,680,840
Progress
Target
39%
180%
57%
40%

25
FUNDING ANALYSIS
(157 per cent of target) women, girls, men and boy survivors of
GBV through specialised services. The number of beneficiaries
reached is higher than expected due to increased number of
partners in the different hubs and extended reach from Damascus.
Child protection
Child protection actors are making steady progress on the four
core commitments of the No Lost Generation Initiative. During
the reporting period, actors reached 328,693 children (36 per
cent of target) with community-based child protection and
psychosocial support programmes; 225,417 individuals (12 per
cent of target) with awareness raising on child protection issues;
and 10,018 children (61 per cent of target) with specialised child
protection services including case management. In addition,
3,665 child protection workers (575 per cent of target) were
reached with training initiatives to strengthen their capacity to
provide services to children. Child Protection actors are making
headway in responding to child recruitment and child labour,
both priority issues identified in the HNO, through inclusive
and multi-sectoral approaches. For example, an operational
framework has been agreed upon to provide multi-sectoral
community-based services to prevent and respond to child
recruitment in targeted locations, and the sector is working with
national authorities to deliver on a strategy to tackle child labour.
Mine action
Significant steps have been made to improve the mine action
response in Syria by mine action and child protection actors.
In the first five months of 2016, 716,274 people (24 per cent
of the target) have received education on the risks posed
by unexploded explosive devices throughout the country,
including in collaboration with Child Protection partners
and the Ministry of Education. Risk education partners
have reached 124,000 adults and children with direct risk
education in their communities. Since deploying at the end
of March 2016, two clearance teams have destroyed 684 items
of unexploded ordnance, including 615 cluster munitions.
Non-technical survey teams have also been deployed to better
determine the extent of the explosive hazard problem.
Protection capacity development
Partners’ capacity development is being supported by initiatives
such as e-learning and training of trainer initiatives in Syria and
in neighboring countries. Training centres are being set-up in
Damascus, Aleppo and Homs to support continuity of training
opportunities; and new initiatives allowing for distance learning
for Syrian partners in areas which cannot be directly accessed
for training purposes have commenced.
There have been 166 training activities conducted in 2016.
A WoS child protection capacity assessment was undertaken
that will be critical to inform the development of a cohesive
capacity building strategy, thus addressing a gap for the sector.
Investment in strengthening the child protection workforce
remains a top priority for the child protection sub-sector
Protection advocacy
The sectors’ commitment to advocacy continues with
increased policy initiatives to support a principled and
operationally sound humanitarian response. These include
the HCT-endorsed paper on ‘Protection and Humanitarian
Considerations for the Engagement of Humanitarian
Actors in Situations of Negotiated Ceasefires and Related
Humanitarian Evacuations in Syria.’ UN Protection Agencies
raise protection issues identified through IA Convoys to
besieged and hard-to-reach areas with relevant authorities
and relevant parties on behalf of affected populations to
support humanitarian interventions as well as early response/
early warning. The protection advocacy working group will
support partner-based protection advocacy in 2016/17.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
The protection sector has seen two contrasting changes in the
context in Syria:
• The significant escalation of hostilities in Idleb and Aleppo
has forced partners to periodically suspend day-to-day
services and/or adjust the modality of their delivery. This
includes moving community spaces underground. In early
2016, two Cluster-supported projects (via the Humanitarian
Fund) had facilities/resources damaged by airstrikes and
an additional two postponed essential components of their
programmes (such as conflict risk mitigation training for
community members and assessments) due to conduct of
hostilities. In southern Syria, conflict in early 2016 resulted
in significant levels of displacement. Fighting between Liwa
Shuhadaa Al Yarmouk and FSA-aligned non-State armed
groups in Ash-Shajara sub-district southwestern Dar’a, has
resulted in a shrinking of the humanitarian space, with
access increasingly a challenge.
• Positive changes have seen in access of humanitarian actors
to an increasing number of the besieged and hard to reach
areas from Damascus since February 2016. Participation
of protection staff in interagency convoys has improved
understanding of the protection risks in besieged areas,
including the impact of besiegement on freedom of
movement of civilians who remain trapped in unsafe areas.
• Family separation, early and forced marriage and lack
or losses of documentation continue to be key threats
for people in these areas. The ability for communities to
access education and health care, particularly for those
most vulnerable, such as those in need of urgent medical
treatment, is severely limited.

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