Damascus/New York 1 April 2026 — Some 3,100 pregnant women are among the more than 202,400 people who have fled Lebanon to cross into Syria since the escalation of conflict in the Middle East in early March. Some 350 of these women are expected to give birth within the next 30 days.
As violence intensifies in Lebanon, women and their families are seeking shelter across borders, but many fled with no belongings and are eking out an existence in overstretched and overcrowded temporary shelters, which lack adequate sanitation, medicine or food. Women and girls on the move face heightened risk of gender-based violence, including harasment, sexual abuse and exploitation as they cross into Syria, a country that has not yet recovered from 15 years of war.
“As women and girls flee one crisis only to face another, we cannot look away,” said Enshrah Ahmed, UNFPA Representative in Syria. “Every step they take is a step in search of safety, dignity, and assistance. Without urgent support, thousands of women and girls face childbirth without care, violence without protection, and crisis without hope.”
This latest wave of returnees comes on top of January displacements of 173,000 people triggered by intense fighting in Aleppo, Ar-Raqqa, Al-Hasakah, and Deir-ez-Zor.
UNFPA is responding to the needs of the newly displaced by deploying mobile teams, setting up protection services and distributing hygiene kits, but the scale of need far exceeds available resources. Severe funding cuts to UNFPA in 2025 forced one in three of UNFPA’s health and protection facilities in Syria to shutter. UNFPA urgently needs $45 million to meet the deepening needs.
“UNFPA is ready to scale up, to create safe spaces for women and girls, and deploy mobile health clinics along the Lebanon-Syria border, but we can only do this with more support,” said Ms. Ahmed.
Media contacts
In Syria: Kinda Katranji, katranji@unfpa.org, 00963 935 88 44 11
In Cairo: Samir Aldarabi, aldarabi@unfpa.org, 00201068484879
In New York: Eddie Wright, ewright@unfpa.org; media@unfpa.org
About UNFPA
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, working to uphold the rights and choices of women, girls and young people across more than 150 countries and territories. It reaches millions of women, girls and young people with essential health services, protection from violence, and vital information about their bodies and rights. It also helps governments plan for changing demographics, to build inclusive and resilient societies.
