Toronto, August 25, 2025 – Save the Children opened its first national office in Syria on Monday, ending 13 years of management from Jordan, Türkiye and Lebanon, with plans to scale up programmes at a time when a record three in every four children need humanitarian assistance.
The organisation now delivers aid exclusively from inside the country through hubs in Damascus, Aleppo, Raqqa and Qamishli and employs more than 1,050 staff, 96% of whom are Syrian nationals, placing decisions, resources and accountability squarely in Syrian hands.
The move comes as nearly 17 million people, including 7.5 million children, more than two thirds of the population, need humanitarian assistance in Syria.
About 7.2 million people remain displaced, and 2.4 million children are out of school, while a further 1.6 million children are at imminent risk of dropping out. Almost half the country’s hospitals and primary healthcare centres are partially or completely non-functional, while 650,000 children under five are chronically malnourished.
Opening the new office, Save the Children’s Chief Operating Officer, Gabriella Waaijman, said:
“For 14 years, Syria’s children have endured endless bombardment, enforced disappearances, repeated displacement, freezing winters in tents, perilous sea crossings, a pandemic, and a devastating earthquake. Yet, time and again they have shown extraordinary resilience and an unshakeable desire for peace, safety, and opportunity.”
Save the Children is partnering with more than 20 Syrian civil society organisations and working closely with the Interim Authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic to restore classrooms, primary health centres and livelihoods.
Delivering from within Syria removes costly cross-border trans-shipments and enables real-time monitoring of the situation. It will also accelerate planned work to rehabilitate schools, scale up nutrition services, clear explosive ordnance, and expand livelihoods support that keeps families from resorting to harmful coping mechanisms such as child labour or early marriage.
Bujar Hoxha, Save the Children’s Country Director in Syria, said:
“I first worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Syrian colleagues in a border hub in 2014, every one of them uprooted from their own towns. Their courage and professionalism convinced me that Syrian talent is our greatest asset.
“Bringing the whole operation home is a milestone, but our job is far from finished until every child here can sleep safely, learn again and dream without fear. That will take sustained backing from the international community.”
Save the Children has worked in Syria since 2012, reaching more than 11.9 million people, including 5.9 million children, with education, child protection, health, nutrition, food security and water programmes.
The organisation is urging donor governments to close the funding gap in the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan with flexible, multiyear support; calling on the Interim Authorities and all armed actors to guarantee safe, unimpeded humanitarian access; and inviting private sector partners and individual supporters to invest in the Syrian-led scale-up that will turn proximity into lives saved.
ENDS
Notes to editors
· The organisation operates through three field offices (Aleppo, Raqqa and Qamishli), satellite sites in Al Hol and Roj camps, and a national headquarters in Damascus.
· For multimedia, please visit Save the Children’s Content Hub
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Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Canada and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.