Syria

USAID is providing humanitarian aid to more than 5 million Syrians each month.

Zein Al Rifa, AFP

Key Developments

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced more than $756 million in new U.S. humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis during a UN Security Council meeting on September 14.

The Syrian Arab Republic Government declared a cholera outbreak on September 10 in Aleppo Governorate following laboratory confirmation of 15 cases, which health organizations suspect is caused by unsafe drinking and irrigation water.

Conflict continued to cause civilian deaths and injuries in northeast Syria in August, including an August 18 drone strike on a UN-supported education center that resulted in the deaths of four people and injured 11 others.

Background

The Syrian conflict is the largest and most complex humanitarian crisis of our time, driving record levels of displacement and humanitarian need. Approximately 75% of the current population—or 14.6 million people—are in need of humanitarian aid. The emergence of ISIS exacerbated the protracted crisis, where the Assad regime has waged an unrelenting campaign of bloodshed and violence against its own people for eleven years.

The United States is the leading donor of humanitarian assistance for Syria, providing more than $14 billion throughout Syria and the region since the start of the crisis. USAID assistance alone is reaching more than 5.5 million people per month inside Syria.