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Humanitarian aid to refugee and internally displaced people (IDPs) has increasingly shifted from rural and camp environments to urban areas in recent years, with 60% of all refugees and 80% of all IDPs currently living in urban areas. Risks of violence for displaced persons in camp-based humanitarian settings are well documented and include gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and forced marriages, as well as a number of other forms of inter-communal violence, discrimination, and denial of resources, assistance, or assets. However, little is known about types and drivers of violence and interventions to reduce violence among displaced and host populations in urban areas, who likely face a different set of challenges due to the complex infrastructure, sociopolitical context, and service provision systems found in cities.

On 4 February 2016, the international community agreed on a ‘comprehensive new approach’ to address the protracted Syria crisis at the “Supporting Syria and the Region” Conference in London. Donors, and neighbouring countries, which host the vast majority of those who have fed Syria, committed to significant financial pledges and policy changes to improve the lives of refugees and host communities.

The war in Syria has raged on for six years, causing a staggering 11 million people to flee for their lives — the largest refugee crisis of our time. More than 6 million are displaced inside the country, and nearly 5 million have fled to nearby countries in search of safety. But many, including the 1.7 million Syrians registered in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon, are living in precarious circumstances.

EU leaders must live up to their commitments to European values in responding to migration, more than 160 NGOs said today in a joint statement. The organisations are calling for strong leadership to uphold the rights and values that have been the founding principles of the European Union for 60 years. The statement comes ahead of this week’s EU summit, following months of policies aimed at shutting migration routes across the Mediterranean at any cost. Just last month EU leaders in Malta backed an Italian migration deal with Libya that exposes people to suffering and death. The 162 organizations and networks from more than 20 states – including Oxfam, Save the Children, Care, the ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ) and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) – call for leadership that both defends human rights and addresses people’s fears, rather than fuelling them. It also calls for EU leaders to go beyond rhetoric and deliver on their commitments to defend the human rights of men, women and children on the move. “Strength doesn't mean turning away those most in need. Strength is about showing a way forward that upholds values,” the letter reads.

Throughout the Syrian conflict, children’s education has been disrupted by displacement and insecurity. Now, an ̽����ѡ survey of about 3,000 school children at five schools in northern Syria indicates that Syrian children’s maths and literacy skills are falling far behind pre-war levels.

This assessment aims to fill a gap in available data about protection vulnerabilities faced by Syrian refugee men in Lebanon.

There is a growing body of research that evidences the vital role Syrian refugees’ play in stimulating host economies and even buffering host economies from some of the wider regional economic impacts of the Syrian war.

Family planning is one of the most life-saving and empowering interventions in health. Yet misguided assumptions are restricting it from the women and girls who need it most.