WAITING FOR THE SUN. WHEN EVERY MEETING CARRIES LOSS
Hospitals without drugs for life-saving operations. Clinics in camps for displaced people without medical staff. Ambulances stopped due to lack of fuel.
This is the devastating reality we are facing in north-east Syria after the US administration's decision to stop funding USAID. A decision that, overnight, has left millions of people without the essential support they need to survive in an area that still depends entirely on international aid. And we, who have been working on the ground since 2015, see the effects of this catastrophe every day.
Due to the suspension of USAID funds announced on 20 January, which resulted in the closure of 90 per cent of the agency's programmes on the evening of 25 February, more than 4.5 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance are at risk of being left without support, and that in north-east Syria alone.
It is urgent that every person in solidarity chooses to donate to curb this drama.
This is witnessed by Lavinia Brunetti, Un Ponte Per worker from the Areesha camp, in the TV2000 report.
HUMANITARIAN AID UNDER ATTACK
Trump's is a real attack on international aid, which as of mid-February has already led to the interruption of 61% of services that provide access to primary and secondary health care, 54% of programmes to protect against gender-based violence and the exploitation of child labour, 56% of programmes that now provide access to clean water and basic sanitation, and 53% of food security programmes.
Our Director General, Martina Pignatti Morano, makes an urgent appeal:
"The suspension of USAID funds is exacerbating an already deep humanitarian crisis in Syria, leaving millions of people without access to essential services. In a country ravaged by 13 years of conflict, this decision is forcing international and local humanitarian organisations to scale back, if not stop altogether, vital operations, particularly affecting the most vulnerable in the communities: women, children and girls, and displaced people who are entirely dependent on international aid."
This is an unprecedented crisis that affects the entire country, but which becomes particularly critical in the north-east: here, more than 100 health facilities in the governorates of Deir ez-Zor, Hassakeh, Raqqa and Aleppo risk total closure between March and April 2025.
In camps for displaced people, the disruption of health services and vaccination programmes is exposing children to deadly diseases such as measles and cholera, with the risk of an alarming increase in child mortality. Local organisations, pillars of the humanitarian response, without international support are running out of resources to provide assistance.
Without immediate action, the entire Syrian healthcare system risks collapse. The lives of thousands of people suddenly deprived of primary medical care are at risk.
THE RESPONSE OF A BRIDGE TO
We at Un Ponte Per have been working in north-east Syria for 10 years, supporting the population in the difficult process of rebuilding a public health system and responding to the humanitarian needs of the population. Over many years we have been through numerous emergencies, attacks on health facilities and infrastructure, as well as natural disasters, and we have always continued to do our part, standing by the side of the most vulnerable communities.
To date, our interventions have provided 1,640,000 people with access to primary health care, protection programmes for women and children, clean water and sanitation. People who count on our support.
These included more than 100,000 residents of camps - including the one in Al Hol - and 700,000 who relied on the Hassakeh National Hospital, which provided free treatment to 1,300 patients every month , including 300 mothers with their children.
We are doing everything we can to keep the essential services of the Hassakeh Hospital and the clinics in the camps operational. Thanks to the donations we have received, we have ensured the coverage of the hospital's need for life-saving medicines for the months of January and February. But all this is in danger of having to be suspended any day now: on 27 February alone, more than 450 people in the hospital were laid off, and without new funds, by 30 April most of the services in all the health facilities will be completely interrupted.
URGENT APPEAL
Our Director states this clearly:
"With the closure of the NGO projects that operated in the area, the poorest region of Syria is in absolute need of the solidarity of each and every one of us. Every donation, large or small, can now make a difference and will help us to guarantee care, provide medication and protection to support the population as we have always done, and for as long as it is needed."
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
On 20 January 2025, US President Donald Trump issued the Presidential Executive Order to reassess and realign US foreign aid, which imposed a 90-day stop on funding disbursements (expiring on 30 April) for development assistance around the world, in order to assess programme effectiveness and 'coherence with foreign policy'. The parameters of the review process are unclear and have not been made public, but the US administration has already started to cancel hundreds of USAID contracts and funding, effective immediately. A 'coherence' that has been translated on the ground into immediate cuts in aid to programmes for health care, education, protection and support for women's empowerment: a direct attack on humanitarian and development aid.
On 26 February, the Trump administration issued over 10,000 project suspension letters that reached UN agencies and numerous NGOs. These include Un Ponte Per, which has seen 90% of its activities in north-east Syria officially suspended, drastically reducing its capacity to support the operations of local health facilities such as the National Hospital in Hassakeh, Primary Health Care Centres in camps for displaced persons, Mobile Health Units and Ambulance Coordination Centres, which guarantee primary health services in internal medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology, treatment of infectious diseases, analysis laboratories and medical dispensaries, and psychological support to tens of thousands of people every month. These activities also offered the possibility of identifying cases of women survivors of gender-based violence, children and girls excluded from education and victims of child labour, early marriages, and accompanying them in dedicated support paths.
Un Ponte Per first started working with USAID/BHA at the request of its local partners in north-eastern Syria to compensate for the progressive reduction of international funding for programmes active in the area. In January 2020, in fact, with the UN Cross Border Resolution, following the veto of Russia and China, the United Nations renewed humanitarian support to the country but halved the number of crossings through which aid could be accessed, closing those from Iraq and Jordan and leaving the north-east of Syria effectively isolated. Non-governmental organisations such as Un Ponte Per that have refused to register with the Damascus government since that year, so as not to come to terms with the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad, have lost the possibility of accessing these funds, finding themselves forced to face serious humanitarian shortages without the necessary financial support. At the same time, since 2022, following the humanitarian emergency caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, EU agencies have gradually decreased their engagement in crisis countries such as north-east Syria to focus their resources on responding to the Ukrainian humanitarian emergency, increasing the gap between available funding and the need to respond to the population's needs.
On 30 April, the 90-day suspension of USAID funds ends, and it is very likely that funding for programmes already notified of the suspension will be confirmed, a cut that will disproportionately affect Syria's most vulnerable communities who, after almost 14 years of conflict, depend entirely on aid for their survival.
In north-east Syria, the consequences of this decision could be catastrophic, if alternative sources of support are not found, the health system risks collapse: hundreds of thousands of people will be left without life-saving assistance, basic care, medicines, further aggravating an already dramatic humanitarian situation. Finally, this could fuel tensions and unrest in camps for displaced persons and communities, creating fertile ground for the resurgence of extremist movements.
In this context, every donation can make a difference.
