Situation Overview
Updated findings of a damage assessment conducted by the Engineering Syndicate, a body mandated by the Syrian government to assess earthquake damage working closely with UNRWA shows that 1,076 Palestine refugee homes were affected by the earthquake in Aleppo, Latakia and Hama governorates, of which 15% (166) were severely, 29% (309) partially and 56% (601) had minor damage. The majority of damaged buildings were in Aleppo governorate (75%), 23% in Latakia and 2% in Hama. The updated statistics reflect the findings of ongoing assessments in the three governorates. In addition to refugee homes, the earthquake also damaged 11 UNRWA installations, including health centres and schools.
Rehabilitation of Palestine refugee shelters and UNRWA installations constitutes 44% of the Syria portion of UNRWA’s earthquake response flash appeal, of which only 6% of this portion is funded to date. UNRWA in Syria requires urgent funding support to repair and rehabilitate refugee shelters and installations damaged by the earthquake, in addition to providing critical cash assistance, education, health, mental health and psychosocial support services to affected refugees. Working with the Humanitarian Country Team and thematic sectors in Syria, UNRWA is contributing to a process to update the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan to include post-earthquake response needs as part of countrywide efforts to fundraise for the disaster. UNRWA is also contributing to the Syria Early Recovery Needs Assessment (SERNA), as part of the UN wide initiative.
