Syria – seven years on
15 March 2018 marked the seventh anniversary of conflict in Syria.
More than 13 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, including 5.5 million people – more than half of whom are children – who’ve been forced to flee their country to escape violence.
A further 6.1 million people have been forced from their homes but remain in Syria and 2.6 million people in Turkey have also been displaced within their own country.
Since 2011, World Vision’s Syria response has reached approximately 3 million people, including 1.3 million children.
360 degrees in Za'atari refugee camp
Mahmoud, 15, arrived at the Jordanian refugee camp Za'atari in 2012 along with his parents and six siblings. He gives us a 360 degree view of how his life has changed since then.
World Vision's Syria response
World Vision’s initial response to the crisis focused on supporting resettlement and basic needs of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Seven years on, the World Vision response operates in five countries – Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq – and works beyond families’ basic needs to tackle complex social problems that affect children’s rights and individual resilience.
Assistance provided by World Vision includes:
- helping people access food, clean water, sanitation and hygiene services
- shelter and emergency supplies such as blankets, stoves and warm winter clothing
- support to fractured health systems: hospitals, maternal services, health centres and mobile clinics
- safe spaces for children to learn, play and receive other forms of support
- programs addressing children’s social interactions, family bonds and psychosocial wellbeing
- bridging courses and additional classes to get children back to school
![]()
Syrian refugee children aged 3-6 attend a World Vision Early Childhood Education program at Rajab in Lebanon. For many of the children attending this is their first experience of directed group activities.
Humanitarian needs have increased twelve-fold since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, with 13 million people currently in need of assistance.
Your help is urgently needed to protect children as they try to survive as refugees, and provide emergency items such as:
- food
- shelter
- medicine
- child friendly spaces
- care kits for children
- education packs for children
- schooling
The amounts above are indicative of the cost of purchasing relief items here in Australia.
Syria conflict explained
Now in its eighth year, conflict in Syria has left more than five million refugees seeking shelter in neighbouring countries, and countless more struggling to reach safety in Europe. An increasing number of those fleeing the Syrian conflict are unaccompanied children.
The crisis has spilled into Iraq, where approximately 2.6 million people are now internally displaced. Across Syria and Iraq, infrastructure and social order are badly damaged. Schools, hospitals, roads and water supplies have all been targeted in the violence and remain in disrepair due to poor aid access and dwindling resources.
In Jordan and Lebanon, resettlement has become long term, altering the traditional demographics and patterns of life in cities and towns amidst tension and competition over jobs and basic services.
Read the latest World Vision Syria Crisis Response Annual Report here.
Information about Syria