In 2011-12 security forces used tanks, gunfire and mass arrests to try to crush anti-government street protests inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. These protests rapidly took on a more formal nature when the opposition began to organise political and military wings for a long uprising against the Baath government. As 2012 wore on, the stand-off escalated into civil war, with defections from the governing elite signalling the steady collapse of central authority.

Syria is experiencing the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world today. Since the beginning of conflict three years ago, more than 2.5 million people, mostly women and children, have been registered as refugees in neighbouring countries.

With more than 9 million people inside Syria who are in need of assistance, including 2.4 million women and girls of reproductive age, it is estimated that 200,000 pregnant women are in need of urgent care. UNFPA, through its implementing partners, continues to provide clean delivery kits and reproductive health services, including emergency obstetric care and psychosocial support within Syria.

Young people in Syria face many challenges because the new political and economic re- forms are transforming the society and the culture in a radical way. The educational system has new generation is confronted with Western cultural models and with a new economic and social system. These models are completely different from the ones of their parents and teachers so the gap between generations is increasing faster than before and communication and understating are more difficult. Syria is home to a new generation looking for its own identity but also struggling for a good job, a house and a social place in the country.