Donor fatigue, early marriage strain women's health care in Syrian IDP camp

ABU KHASHAB, Syria — Twelve years into the Syrian war, decreasing funding and donor fatigue have taken a toll on humanitarian services across Syria. Among those bearing the brunt of it are women, particularly those living in remote displacement camps where access to health care is entirely funded by nongovernmental organizations.

One example is northeast Syria’s Abu Khashab informal camp, established in October 2017 in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor province to host families fleeing areas held by the Syrian government or the Islamic State. The camp is home to around 10,700 people, but lacks many of the basic health services one would expect to find in an area of this size.

Camp director Ahmed al-Sheikh told Al-Monitor the situation there is tragic. “There is just one medical point, which doesn’t meet our needs. A few days ago we had an outbreak of measles and the clinic didn’t have the right medicine.”

The camp is served by a medical clinic run by the Kurdish Red Crescent, which is funded by large international groups and donors. There’s also a small aid group-run center providing obstetric care and two pharmacies.