Psychosocial Safety: Pathways to psychosocial safety for Syria’s displaced children and adolescents

The conflict that began in Syria in March 2011 has resulted in the largest displacement crisis in the world: over six million Syrians are currently living as internally displaced people (IDPs) and, in 2019, people inside of Syria continue to be displaced on average in the thousands-per-day. While the conflict and displacement have psychosocial consequences for Syria’s displaced people of all ages, the consequences for children— who represent around half of the IDP and refugee populations — are particularly pronounced.

This policy brief brings to light some of the psychosocial-related priorities highlighted by displaced Syrian children and their caregivers when discussing durable solutions, which typically receive less attention in durable solutions frameworks than the physical, material and legal aspects of durable solutions do. By introducing the concept of ‘psychosocial safety’, this brief offers an overview of the impacts of displacement on psychological and social processes that are crucial to a child’s healthy development and provides recommendations on how targeted interventions can support protective factors in order to contribute to progress towards durable solutions.