Syria’s Returning Children Need Schools, Care and Safe Water to Rebuild Lives

Since December 2024, an estimated 1.67 million Syrian refugees have returned from neighbouring countries, and 1.9 million internally displaced people have returned, mostly to their areas of origin.

Returning home is a major step for Syrian families who have spent years displaced, but rebuilding their lives depends on whether their children can attend school, receive health care and access safe water. During a three-day visit to Syria, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for children to be placed at the centre of the country's recovery, with investment in the services families need to regain stability and plan for their future.

Russell met government officials and other partners to discuss the needs of returning families, the restoration of essential services and greater investment in children and adolescents. She reaffirmed UNICEF's commitment to supporting young people across Syria, where years of conflict have severely damaged the infrastructure that communities depend on and left millions of children needing assistance.

Coming home brings hope and difficult realities

Since December 2024, an estimated 1.67 million Syrian refugees have returned from neighbouring countries, and 1.9 million internally displaced people have returned, mostly to their areas of origin. These movements bring families back to places they know, although many are arriving in communities where damaged schools, health facilities and water systems make daily life difficult and recovery uncertain.

Millions of Syrians remain displaced, and communities receiving returning families face growing pressure on services already weakened by years of conflict. Children's needs extend beyond a place in a classroom or access to medical treatment, with protection services also essential to their safety and well-being. Supporting returning households requires investment in the communities receiving them, so that essential services can meet the needs of the people who depend on them.

Restored services help families rebuild daily life

In Rural Damascus, Russell visited a rehabilitated school, a maternal and child health centre and a rehabilitated water facility, seeing how UNICEF-supported services are helping families regain access to education, health care and water. Her meetings with children and parents brought attention to the practical foundations of recovery: places where children can learn, services that support mothers and young children, and water facilities that help households meet their everyday needs.

Russell described a country whose story is beginning to include resilience and hope after more than a decade dominated by conflict, loss and displacement. The families she met had returned to rebuild their lives, investing in children as an immediate priority. "This is the moment to put children at the heart of recovery efforts," she said, linking their future to the restoration of the services they need and to Syria's wider recovery.

Children need support that lasts beyond the return

UNICEF is calling for flexible, predictable funding over several years to strengthen education, health, water and child protection systems. That support would help communities respond to returning families and sustain the services children require, giving recovery efforts a more reliable foundation than funding that cannot be planned around or maintained.

The agency is encouraging Syrian authorities to put children's rights and needs at the heart of the country's future, recognising that the return of families does not bring an end to humanitarian needs. Sustained investment in children can help communities recover and support Syria's long-term development, giving every child a better opportunity to survive, thrive and take part in rebuilding the country they call home.