Syria

UNICEF/Grove Hermansen
The message is clear: There is no military solution for the Syrian crisis. The only possible solution remains political. This man-made humanitarian nightmare for the long-suffering Syrian people must stop. It must stop now.

Secretary-General António Guterres in remarks to the press on the situation in Syria, 21 Feb ‘20

Overview

Since the conflict erupted in March 2011, Syria has witnessed unprecedented devastation and displacement. More than 5 million Syrians have fled the country and 6 million are internally displaced. With more than 13 million people in need of assistance, the conflict has caused untold suffering for Syrian men, women and children.

 

UN News Reports on Syria

Click here for news coverage on Syria.

Board of Inquiry

Board of Inquiry report summary

© UNICEF/Khalil Ashawi

UN Secretary-General's summary of the report of the United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry into certain incidents in northwest Syria since 17 September 2018 involving facilities on the United Nations deconfliction list and United Nations supported facilities.

Syria in Numbers

Impacts of  Conflict

UN Action at a Glance

  • The Security Council takes the lead on political action on Syria. In 2017, the 15-member body discussed Syria 33 times – the most frequent topic – in informal consultations. Since 2012, the Council has adopted 23 resolutions on Syria or largely related to Syria.
  • UN has convened 8 rounds of intra-Syrian talks since 2016 to find a political solution to the conflict.
  • In 2017, UN-led humanitarian convoys reached 820,200 people inside Syria.
  • UN-led Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) for 2018-2019 calls for $4.4 billion to support over 5 million refugees in neighbouring countries and some 4 million members of the host communities.
  • WHO and partners delivered over 14 million treatments across Syria in 2017.
  • In 2017, WHO led operations to vaccinate almost 2.5 million children against polio, and 4.8 million children against measles.
  • In December 2017 alone, UNFPA supported 19,454 deliveries, including 8,746 C-section operations, inside Syria.
  • In 2018, UNICEF and partners plan to enroll 2.2 million children aged from 5 to 17 in formal general education.
  • UN Human Rights Council investigates all violations of international law since March 2011 through the Independent International Commission of Inquiry.

 

Intra-Syrian Negotiations

Syrian children shelter in a doorway amid gunfire and shelling.
UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

About the Intra-Syrian Negotiations 

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, is working tirelessly to bring the parties to the negotiating table and an end to the war. Since January 2016, the Special Envoy for Syria has conducted several rounds of intra-Syrian negotiations with talks in late 2017 into 2018, focusing on two key aspects of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), a schedule and process to draft a new constitution and the holding of elections as the basis for a Syrian-led, Syrian owned process to end the conflict.
For all the key dates of the Syrian peace process, click here.

Humanitarian

The UN humanitarian response

Over 250,000 people have been killed and over one million injured since the onset of the crisis in 2011. More than half of all Syrians have been forced to leave their homes, often multiple times, making Syria the largest displacement crisis globally. Human rights violations and abuses continue to occur in the context of widespread insecurity and in disregard of international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights law. The UN is working with partners to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need.

UN agencies & humanitarian partners

  • Humanitarian Coordination – OCHA
  • Children – UNICEF
  • Food Security – FAO | WFP
  • Refugees – UNHCR
  • Health – WHO
  • World Heritage – UNESCO

IIIM

International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism

In east Aleppo City, Syria, boys and a man collect water from a UNICEF-supported water point in Shakoor neighbourhood.

On 21 December 2016, the UN General Assembly established the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) to "collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses and to prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings ... in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes".

 

  • General Assembly resolution 71/248 ( A | C | E | F | R | S )
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 71/248 ( A | C | E | F | R | S )
  • Terms of reference of the IIIM, annexed to the report of the Secretary-General ( A | C | E | F | R | S )
  • Frequently asked questions on the IIIM ( A | E )
  • List of voluntary contributions to the IIIM  (as of 1 July 2017)

Videos 

Related Stories