After more than 12 years of conflict, the humanitarian and security situation in Syria remains serious. the ongoing war and the recent hazard are still causing internal displacements and massive damage to houses, schools, hospitals and infrastructures, leaving millions of people in need of assistance.

14.6 million people need humanitarian assistance; 12.4 million are severely food insecure; 13 million do not have sufficient access to water; 2.5 million children are not attending school; 6.7 million are internally displaced and 6.6 million are refugees worldwide (UNHCR, November 2022).

The earthquake on 6 February 2023, which strongly affected the Syrian-Turkish border, dramatically worsens an extremely precarious situation, and will cause the death toll to rise further.

COOPI is active with its humanitarian action in Syria since mid-2016, mainly committed to Food Security and Protection sector in the rural areas of Damascus and Aleppo.

In 2018, COOPI launched a UNHCR-funded protection programme in Aleppo to assist people with special needs - elderly, children, disabled affected by the armed conflict - and launched an ECHO-funded project related to life-saving food assistance and family-based agricultural production support in Eastern Ghouta, to the benefit of displaced people, once they return to their villages. COOPI also gives psychological support to returnees, especially women and children.