UNICEF's Deputy Representative in Syria, Zainab Adam, painted a very bleak picture of the humanitarian situation, noting that more than 12 million people acute lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services, making the rehabilitation of these services a rescue priority to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.
In a media interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Modun, Adam spoke about what she called a "silent disaster", as one in five children under the age of five suffers from stunting resulting from chronic malnutrition, which threatens the proper development of children and undermines the country's future human capital, stressing that the organization focuses on the first thousand days of a child's life by providing nutritional supplements and raising awareness among mothers.
More than 2.4 million children are out of school, while 1.2 million children are at risk of dropping out, with more than 8,000 schools out of service as a result of the destruction, the UN official said, adding that this reality places "double burdens" on UNICEF's programmes aimed at reintegrating students and providing safe learning environments.
Early recovery programs hit the wall of funding
Adam explained that UNICEF is working to move from emergency relief to early recovery and community resilience programmes, by rehabilitating water networks, schools and health facilities to ensure continuity of services through state institutions, in addition to training frontline workers.
These ambitions are facing severe operational and financial challenges, most notably the funding crisis, as the organization needed $481 million in its 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal to reach 7 million people, including 4.8 million children. As of April 30, 2026, only 17.46% of this amount has been funded, which threatens to undermine the humanitarian gains made, she said.
More than 1.6 million returnees hit by a devastating reality
More than 1.6 million people returned to their areas of origin from the beginning of 2025 to May 2026, with the upward trend continuing, explaining that UNICEF's strategy does not focus on return per se, but on strengthening the resilience of receiving communities facing a very difficult reality: destroyed homes, almost non-existent services, and a suffocating economic environment.
The lack of sustainable investments threatens to erode fragile stability in areas of return, Adam warned, stressing that UNICEF's programmes are focused on providing psychosocial support to children, mine risk education, as well as multi-purpose cash transfers to the most vulnerable families to help them secure basic needs such as heating fuel, clothing and food.
The UN official stressed that the organization's plans and programmes in Syria are based on humanitarian situation reports, household surveys, and monitoring systems developed in coordination with UN agencies, local and international partners, and government ministries, stressing UNICEF's strict commitment to the principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality to ensure that its programmes are built in accordance with actual realities on the ground and not based on a single source of information, to cover vital sectors including water, health, nutrition, education, child protection and social protection.
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