Essential Household Items

milestone in Syria—the tenth

ShelterBox has been supporting families displaced by the violence in Syria since 2012. In 2021, we continued to focus on meeting the needs of vulnerable households affected by the harsh climate and at risk of contracting COVID-19.

Winter is a notoriously challenging time for internally displaced Syrians. Heavy rains, flooding, and snowfall damage shelters already weakened by UV rays during the harsh summer. In February 2021, 22,000 people, already displaced by the conflict, again lost their homes to seasonal flooding. As temperatures dropped below zero, many were forced to seek shelter with family members or in public buildings. Together with our partners Bahar Organization and ReliefAid, we distributed tools and materials to weatherproof and repair shelters. We also piloted a new system that uses sand, gravel, and concrete blocks to create a tent base so families can protect themselves and their belongings from future flooding and standing water. Our aid package also included mattresses, blankets, and clothes to keep people warm during the harsh Syrian winter, and hygiene kits with masks, washbasins, and soap to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

With your support, ShelterBox has reached over 400,000 people with desperately needed shelter and household aid. We will continue to stand alongside families and communities whose lives are overwhelmed by this devastating conflict.

Syria, conflict, 2021

Amira was forced to flee her village with her eight children when bombing destroyed their house and community.

They traveled by foot, staying in cars and relying on the kindness of strangers until they arrived at a displacement camp in Northeast Syria. While grateful to be away from the violence, her family found it difficult to adjust to their new life in the camp as Syrian winters are freezing and unforgiving,

“It was very cold and the children got sick.”

With your support, ShelterBox provided Amira and her family with a new tent as well as blankets, warm clothing, a solar light, and other essentials to help her family survive and recover. Although she yearns for life to return to normal, Amira is comforted by the fact that her children’s nights are a little warmer and their shelter now feels like a home.

2011 Syrian civil war begins, displacing 11 million Syrians over 10 years.

2012 ShelterBox forms partnership with ReliefAid and launches our first winterization project in Northern Syria.

2013 ShelterBox becomes the first aid

2015 ShelterBox forms partnership with Hand in Hand for Syria. We support families in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, plus camps for asylum seekers in Greece.

2017 ShelterBox forms partnership with Bahar Organization to scale operations in Syria.

2018 ShelterBox nominated for the Nobel

2019 Airstrikes escalate in Idlib province, displacing more than a million people.

2020 ShelterBox supports over 4,000 families across Idlib with shelter and household supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 ShelterBox continues to address the needs of families impacted by the violent conflict and harsh winter conditions with our sixth