Syria and Lebanon

Until 8 December 2024, Syria lived under the longest-standing dictatorship in the Middle East. Today, after 14 years of civil war, Syrians stand at a fragile but hopeful threshold — ready to begin rebuilding their country and their lives.

A large number of Syrian children and adults are living with deep trauma while facing extreme poverty. Millions remain internally displaced, and the limited resources available to support returning refugees place an even heavy weight on local communities.

Our Work on the Ground…

Protection

75% of Syrian children are born into war.

This means that many Syrian children grow up among ruins, with their future in the hands of traumatised parents.

These hard living conditions burden the families. Children’s upbringing is affected by parents’ limited understanding of the factors that support mental health. We therefore offer children and mothers psychological care to increase awareness of mental health in families.

Mission East gives psychological care to children and women in areas such as the Jabal Samaan district in Aleppo and Albiseh in Homs.

Agriculture

More than 2 million Syrian children are currently not attending school.

The lack of food and the inability to afford school fees forces many children to miss out on education. We therefore support the most vulnerable families to establish kitchen gardens. Families receive irrigation systems, seeds, and gardening tools, enabling them to grow their own kitchen gardens and put food back on the table.

Many families also sell any surplus vegetables and fruit, providing a small additional income.

Many families live with serious disabilities as a result of the war. Take, for example, Mohamad.

When his home was hit by a missile strike, he awoke from a deep sleep to a living nightmare. A missile struck with a deafening roar, and in the next moment, he found himself trapped under the rubble. The explosion tore his life apart as he knew it, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

To provide for his family, Mission East has supported him with a kitchen garden.

Mission East supports vulnerable Syrians like Mohamad through similar agricultural initiatives in areas including Damascus and Albiseh in Homs.

Help to become self-sufficient

When internally displaced Syrians return home after the war, many find their houses destroyed. They are therefore faced with the challenge of rebuilding not only their homes but also a new life for themselves, their children, and, in some cases, a spouse with a disability.

For many, a major challenge is the lack of vocational skills needed to hold down a job. Having stable employment not only provides a reliable income but also gives families the means to rebuild their homes and create a safe, secure environment for their children.

For this reason, some families receive a cow from Mission East. A cow can help provide a stable income for vulnerable families, as the milk can be sold to local dairies. In other cases, families are offered small business loans or guidance on running their own enterprises.