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Good practice Imported

Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) — Syria Crisis Response

Syria · Damascus · See the Syria profile · See the Damascus profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 55% 63/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2013, UNFPA and partners have run a growing network of Women and Girls Safe Spaces across Syria, scaling from 36 sites in 2015 to 67 by December 2019, delivering GBV case management, reproductive health care and literacy training to tens of thousands of women each year.

67
Safe spaces operating inside Syria (December 2019)
~40,000
Young people reached via literacy instruction (2018)
42,000+
Reproductive-health consultations, north-east Syria (Oct 2019-Jan 2020)
39,000+
GBV prevention/response services, north-east Syria (Oct 2019-Jan 2020)
880,000+
People reached nationally with GBV prevention/response services (by 2023)
Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) — Syria Crisis Response

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund)
Period
2013–2024 (ongoing)
Keywords
humanitarian response, gender-based violence, reproductive health, protection

Context

Since the 2011 onset of the Syrian conflict, UNFPA and partners have run Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) offering gender-based-violence case management, reproductive health services, psychosocial support, legal information and skills training.

Results

The network grew from 36 safe spaces (2015) to 38 inside Syria (2018, of which 26 offered literacy instruction reaching ~40,000 young people that year) to 67 by December 2019. In north-east Syria alone (Oct 2019-mid-Jan 2020), six safe spaces delivered 42,000+ reproductive-health consultations and 39,000+ GBV prevention/response services, including 189,463 total services recorded at Al-Hol camp. By 2023, UNFPA reported reaching over 880,000 people nationally with GBV prevention and response services.

Conclusions

A 2024 UNFPA advocacy brief notes some safe spaces have since closed due to funding cuts, so the network's scale has not expanded uniformly over time.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
UNFPA programme staff and implementing partners, Case managers, psychosocial support staff, legal advisers

Conditions for success

  • Co-located multi-service model (GBV case management, health, psychosocial, legal, skills)
  • Sustained donor funding — network contraction observed when funding is cut

Common failure modes

  • Funding cuts have caused some safe spaces to close, reducing coverage

Where it fits

Governance type
humanitarian/conflict response
Scale
national

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Data sources

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