We are acting to support the millions of people who are sheltering in countries that are not their own. We have now reached many people affected by the crisis, across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and have a project helping refugees in Italy. With your support we can reach more.
The scale of the Syrian crisis
The humanitarian suffering caused by the crisis is overwhelming. More than 200,000 lives have been lost and more than 4 million people have fled to neighboring countries since the start of the conflict in March 2011, according to the UN. Refugees are now citing a deteriorating economy and health system as reasons for flight, alongside the violence that continues to escalate across northern Syria and its western border.
- The UN estimates that more than 12.2 million Syrians are in need of assistance, including 7.6 million internally displaced people.
- The steady arrival of families displaced by the conflict in neighboring countries is putting extreme pressure on local infrastructure and economies.
Additionally, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the majority of Syrian families sheltering in neighboring countries live in urban areas, outside of formal camp settings. This makes it harder for them to access vital help. 86% of refugees outside camps in Jordan live below the poverty line.
Our work in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria
We are providing clean water to Syrians inside their country through rehabilitation of infrastructure, water trucking and repairing of wells.
In 2014 we reached nearly half a million refugees in Jordan and Lebanon with clean drinking water or cash and relief supplies, such as blankets and stoves and vouchers for hygiene supplies. We are helping families get the information they need about their legal and human rights and connecting them to medical, legal and support services.
We have built shower and toilet blocks in refugee camps, informal settlements and on deserted routes used by people fleeing Syria and have installed or repaired toilets in communities hosting refugees. Piped water schemes are being developed for Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp and in host communities in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.
Campaigning for a political solution to the conflict
Providing life-saving support to the millions of people affected by this devastating conflict is essential but it is not enough. We have been campaigning and advocating for a sustainable and inclusive political solution since the beginning of the conflict. We continue to ask for an immediate cease-fire and call for all parties to the conflict to stop any arms transfers and guarantee humanitarian access.
Help us respond to the refugee crisis
Your support is vital in helping us reach refugee families in crisis.
Over a thousand people who have been displaced inside Syria are living in Dahyet Qudsaya collective shelter, in Rural Damascus.
Tala, 2, from Ghouta, near Damascus in Syria, waits as her father collects drinking water from an Oxfam supplied water tank in Zataari camp in Jordan, which is home to around 80,000 Syrian refugees. Half of the camp’s residents are under 16. Oxfam helps some 25,000 of Zaatari’s residents by providing drinking water, toilets and showers, community centres, hygiene promotion and waste collection.