Humanitarian needs in Syria remain extremely high despite the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, which brought the country’s 14-year conflict to an end. While many internally displaced people began returning to their homes after the end of the fighting, vulnerable families who continue to live in fragile conditions and without access to a social protection system still need international humanitarian support to survive. With funding from the European Union, GOAL is reaching hundreds of thousands of people with cash assistance to help them access essential needs, including heating and other winter supplies.
Longing for Home
Abu Hilweh was filled with joy to hear that the conflict in Syria was nearing an end. Displaced from his home in 2016, the young man’s nostalgia for his village had become difficult to bear.
“It has been hard to hide my longing for my home, my neighbours – all those good people scattered across displacement camps. All these years later, my heart is still in my small plot of land, every gram of which soil I adore,” says the 27-year-old father of four.
In addition to his wife and four young children, Abu Hilweh is also responsible for caring for his brother’s two orphaned sons.
Abu Hilweh’s family were displaced four times in the last nine years, moving across Syria’s Idleb province in search of safety. During their second displacement, when they had no choice but to return home despite the heavy shelling on their village to find shelter, Abu Hilweh was hit by a missile and lost both of his legs.
“The conflict changed the course of my life at a very personal level, bringing challenges that continue to affect me both physically and psychologically,” Abu Hilweh says, adding: “Being away from home while trying to get used to my disability…fleeing conflict on a wheelchair… it all has taken a toll.”
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The conflict changed the course of my life at a very personal level. Being away from home while trying to get used to my disability... it all has taken a toll.
An Uncertain Return
Even though the conflict has ended, Abu Hilweh and his family remained in temporary shelter within the cluster of camps that dot the outskirts of Kelly, a village near Syria’s border with Türkiye where hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people from across the country have sought refuge.
Abu Hilweh's family was among the 45,000 people receiving GOAL winterisation assistance. Funded by the European Union, this cash-based aid programme aims to help the most vulnerable conflict-affected families access heating supplies and other essential winter needs to survive the coldest days of the year. Providing a much-needed lifeline for families living in displacement camps.
“After learning that the Assad government was ousted, the only thought in my mind was of returning to my village and living in a house I own, which can protect my family, with a reassuring door. Protecting us from summer's heat and dust and winter's cold and frost. Who among us can resist the dream of having an independent house to settle freely,” continues Abu Hilweh.
Yet Abu Hilweh’s wish to live in a house of his own may remain a distant dream for the foreseeable future.
“When I visited our village after the fall of the Assad regime, I found our home wholly demolished because of the bombing. Just a pile of stones remains of my memories.
“But what’s most painful is that even if I had access to shelter in my village, my mobility challenges would still keep me from moving back until I can manage the resources necessary to travel, as I am confined to a wheelchair,” Abu Hilweh explains.
Relying on Hope
For Abu Hilweh, the difficulties brought on by winter conditions have been one of the most challenging aspects of living in displacement.
“When you’re forced to flee your home, finding somewhere suitable to live is not always easy. There was a time when we had to pitch tents on agricultural land with my three brothers and their families. We suffered a lot there.
“Imagine praying for a lack of rain throughout winter because rainfall meant that I had to remain in the tent for days on end. I had to rely on my neighbours to secure supplies for my children, as it was impossible for me to move through the mud in my wheelchair,” he shares.
This aid gives us safety, assurance, and a sense of warmth.
Abu Hilweh says that hope was his greatest resource throughout these difficult times. “There was great hardship in securing the needs of my family. I had to defy all the tragic circumstances of life to feed our young children and to keep them warm,” he explains.
The winterisation assistance provided by GOAL has helped strengthen his resolve. “This aid gives us safety, assurance, and a sense of warmth. It frees me from having to wander around to collect twigs, nylon bags and empty cardboard boxes to use as heating fuel,” continues Abu Hilweh.
“While living in displacement, the arrival of winter has always been terrifying as heating can become a more important need than food and water for a disabled person like me. GOAL’s winterisation aid allowed me to plan to buy wool clothes for my children and orphaned nephews for the first time in years. It helped us buy a new wood stove and heating supplies. We’ve even been able to host our neighbours in our shelter to have tea together in the warmth of our family,” Abu Hilweh concludes.
GOAL in Syria
After more than a decade of conflict, over 6.8 millions Syrians are internally displaced. 70% of Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance and relying on aid to survive day-to-day.
GOAL teams have been working on the ground in Syria since the conflict began in 2012. In 2023, GOAL's emergency response programme has reached over 287,000 newly displaced people with food, cooking supplies and financial assistance. As GOAL engineers repair damage to water network infrastructure, more than 1.3 million people are now able to access clean drinking water in their homes. A further 430,000 people are benefitting from GOAL's bakery programme in North-West Syria.
Impact in Numbers
+1.3 million
Providing clean water to over 1.3 million people
+430,000
Delivering bread to over 430,000 people daily
2.8 million
People supported in 2024
2012
GOAL begins operations in Syria
Louay's Story
Louay Tajiddin, a GOAL Water and Sanitation Engineer in Syria, shares his personal experience of having to leave his job and home due to conflict in Syria.
He highlights the challenges faced by Syrians due to the protracted conflict and the importance of access to basic needs, particularly clean water.
To help vulnerable communities in Syria, Louay used his skills and experience for humanitarian work.
"Seeing more and more vulnerable families suffer under conditions of displacement and conflict was difficult. But I knew that this did not have to be the way. I felt I could do more for my people as someone with expertise in maintaining public service infrastructures. Something that was desperately needed in my community."
Learn more about how Louay and other GOAL staff in Syria, thanks to funding from the European Union, are repairing and delivering clean water to over 800,000 people in northwest Syria.
