Syria: IOM expands its appeal to reach more than one million people

This was stated by its Director General, Amy Pope, in a press statement in which the organization expanded its humanitarian appeal for Syria to 73.2 million US dollars to help more than 1.1 million people across the country during the next six months, as Syria enters a transitional period after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

This appeal expands the scope of a previous $30 million appeal in December that focused on growing winter needs in northwest Syria, as the organization re-establishes its presence inside Syria.

The organization said the funds will be used to provide essential relief items, cash, shelter, protection, water, sanitation, hygiene and health services, as well as early recovery support for people on the move, including displaced people returning to the country.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly half a million displaced people have been recorded returning to northwestern Syria by the end of 2024. Years of conflict have killed hundreds of thousands of people, and displaced millions more within Syria or outside its borders.

The International Organization for Migration said it was also revitalizing “Displacement Tracking Matrix” To ensure country-wide needs and mobility assessments are available, and to support the 2025 humanitarian program cycle led by OCHA. She pointed out that this is a decisive and urgent step to determine the next humanitarian and development plans.

Since December 2024, IOM operations inside Syria have reached more than 80,000 people with winter relief items, 170,000 people with emergency water and sanitation services, and 15,000 people with multi-purpose cash assistance.