UOSSM has been on the ground in Syria since 2012 supporting those affected by the Syrian crisis with our health care and emergency humanitarian relief. Our programs are based on 6 pillars: Emergency Disaster Relief, Health Care, Mental Health Care and Protection, Nutrition and Food Insecurity, and Education. We have served millions throughout the years, indiscriminately, to those who need it most.
UOSSM provides emergency services in critical situations such as destruction from bombings and attacks, harsh weather conditions, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other urgent situations. We support affected families with emergency support such as food, shelter, hygiene, emergency medical support, and training for medical staff to handle and cope with emergency conditions. Most recently, we responded immediately to the devastating Turkey/Syria earthquake with our emergency relief and humanitarian services to earthquake victims.
Learn More ( will add subpages on earthquake, Ukraine support, and Covid).
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As the humanitarian needs remain extensive in northwest Syria UOSSM continues to support the most vulnerable populations with primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Since 2012, UOSSM has provided these vital services through our fixed medical facilities, hospitals, and mobile clinics. Our aim is to provide the best, dignified, quality, cost effective care to those who need it most, in areas of crisis.
Years of continued bombardment, attacks, on doctors, health care workers, and medical facilities has left the healthcare structure decimated in northwest Syria. Inadequate access, shortages of medical staff and medical facilities, threatens the lives of the most vulnerable populations, especially children, women, and the elderly, as well as those with chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other illnesses. UOSSM continues to address the increasing health needs of the general public through our fixed health facilities, and mobile clinics. Since 2012, UOSSM has provided over 4.5 million services to the most vulnerable population affected by the Syrian crisis.
Since 2012, UOSSM has been supporting the health care system, working closely with local communities- focusing on the most vulnerable, particularly children and women, local health directorates, and national and international organizations. UOSSM has provided lifesaving humanitarian aid, medical relief, and specialized health care to millions of people in need, supported field hospitals across Syria, including besieged and hard to reach areas, provided medical supplies and equipment, funded the salaries of doctors and health care workers, and supported the ambulance and referral system (EMT). UOSSM has trained tens of thousands of doctors and health care workers, primarily at its specialized training center in northern Syria, to address the growing need and gap in qualified healthcare providers.
UOSSM established and operated Bab Al-Hawa Rehabilitation Center, helping those suffering from physical weakness or disabilities to increase their independence and ability to positively contribute to society.
The main objective of the physiotherapy (PT) program is to provide physical rehabilitation services to refugees with physical impairment whose daily function and independence has been limited.
With centers in Turkey and Syria, each PT center consists of a doctor, orthopedic doctor, and physical therapists specialized in all age groups. This medical team provides medical consultations including medications, physical therapy, auxiliary motor tools and devices, as well as artificial limbs for amputees, and psychological and emotional support.
Support for mental and emotional support is vital in critical areas that are experiencing war, disease, and natural disasters. Since 2013, UOSSM has played an integral role in mental health (MH) as a leader, expert, and innovator, in the Syrian crisis. UOSSM has led the way by taking strategic mental health initiatives and identifying solutions to promote psychosocial wellbeing, and prevent and treat mental disorders for growing mental health issues arising among the Syrian people in Syria and neighboring countries, due to the crisis.
UOSSM provides mental health care and protection services including child protection, and gender-based violence services, which are integrated in primary health care services. In addition, patients receive treatment at fixed mental health care centers, acute inpatient units, mental health mobile clinics, remote tele-services, and protection centers in Syria. In addition, UOSSM provides psychosocial support services to refugees and other underserved communities in Jordan.
Mental health centers in Turkey are among the first centers geared towards Arabic speaking refugees. The main objectives of these centers are to promote mental health awareness and wellbeing, assist refugees in overcoming the difficulties they face, and improve integration into Turkish communities with resilient, positive contributors to society. The centers are officially registered with the Turkish Ministry of Health. Services provided include:
As violations and abuse continue to disregard human life and international humanitarian law in Syria, UOSSM deemed it vital to develop protection interventions focusing on Child Protection (CP) and preventing and responding to Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The program, established in 2017, aims to enhance the protection of at-risk groups from the effects of conflict to include protection activities that are specifically designed to prevent and respond to human rights violations. UOSSM builds local capacity in many areas, including psychological first aid, child protection case management, family tracing and reunification, parenting skills training, and protection monitoring. UOSSM’s protection interventions are developed in accordance with standards and guidelines internationally recognized by UNICEF, UNFPA and UNHCR.
The Welcome Sesame Project was developed in 2019 with the goal of restoring hope and opportunity to a generation of children between the ages of 3-8 that have been affected by conflict and crisis. In addition, the project aims to enhance the functionality, cognitive, emotional, and social skills, and overall wellbeing of young children in conflict settings. Parents and caregivers are also provided with Welcome Sesame activities with the goal of fostering the capacity of parents/caregivers to establish safe, nurturing, and supportive environments and experiences that promote play-based learning.
Women’s empowerment also falls under the umbrella of protection services. The program not only includes Gender-based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, but also includes the following skills development activities to empower the women and girls in their community:
The protection team provides and delivers protection services through the Women and Girls Safe Space (WGSS), Men and Youth Center (MYC) and Protection Mobile Units, and PHC’s in the region.
The ongoing crisis left young children, pregnant women, and new mothers extremely vulnerable. In response to the rise in malnutrition cases, UOSSM began implementing nutrition services in all primary health care centers and mobile clinics in 2015.
As women and children continue to live in unsafe conditions, their health and wellbeing are at stake. Food insecurity is a major factor in the rise of malnutrition as the economic status continues to decline while prices rise causing limited access to healthy food and nutrition. According to a recent survey conducted by Save the Children, 65% of Syrian children “have not had an apple, an orange, or a banana for at least three months.” Chronic malnutrition remains high with one of three or four Syrian children at risk of being stunted.
Many malnutrition cases that required intervention were diagnosed with the help of UOSSM mobile community health teams and nutrition technicians in primary health care centers and mobile clinics. Rapid response is crucial in preventing the transition from moderate to severe malnutrition, which can lead to additional complications and premature death. UOSSM has high recovery rates in patients that receive treatment, both for moderate and severe malnutrition.
In addition, the nutrition program helps raise awareness on a community level about IYCF (Infant and Young Children Feeding) to pregnant and lactating women and caregivers.
While UOSSM’s main programs are focused on healthcare services, emergency humanitarian relief services, such as the distribution of food baskets, are vital for the overall wellbeing of the population.
UOSSSM partners with local organizations such as Hathi Hayati, to distribute food baskets and other foods including Adahi meat, and Iftars in Ramadan, and has also worked in other areas of crisis to distribute food and provide support.
Syrian children have suffered the most throughout the Syrian crisis – experiencing death, loss, trauma, and displacement. Sadly, a whole generation has been lost without access to education.
In 2022, UOSSM USA was awarded a grant by the US Department of State to support educational enrichment integrated with psychosocial support services to refugee and underserved children in Jordan. Working in collaboration with Bareeq Educational Enrichment Center (BEEC) in Amman, this after-school program will assist 400 children in becoming better prepared to integrate into local school systems. UOSSM USA will leverage this partnership to incorporate a refugee responsive teaching competencies model (RRTCM) that will enable refugee children to access enrichment programming after school, while also strengthening the capacity of teachers to provide academic enrichment through social emotional learning (SEL) and psychosocial support services (PSS)-specific activities.
The primary objectives of this after-school program are to:
UOSSM also provides education support in Syria through local organizations such as Hathi Hayati, to ensure children are able to receive an education and have the resources they need to succeed. Hathi Hayati has been establishing schools within newly built communities to ensure children have an education and a chance to have a promising future.
Initiatives and partnerships to rebuild, build, strengthen resilience, and improve the overall infrastructure in northwest Syria through the Health System Resilience Program (HIRS) part of the Syria Solar Initiative, and partnerships with local organizations such as Hathi Hayati.
When the conflict in Syria began in 2012, major sections of the civilian electrical grid went out of service. Most power stations, transformers, and distribution stations were either bombed, destroyed, or dismantled. Diesel generators, and particularly diesel fuel – became a central piece of the war economy – creating a vicious cycle of dependency, fragility, and conflict. As a result, most hospitals became completely dependent on diesel fuel. Any disruption in electricity meant the difference between life and death for patients reliant on lifesaving equipment. It became crucial to increase the resilience of the health system.
In 2017, the ‘Syria Solar Initiative’ was launched through the installation of a 480-panel pilot solar power system in an area hospital. UOSSM’s experience under the Syria Solar Initiative has proven effective both in terms of life saving and cost saving to strengthen the health care infrastructure. Since the launch of Syria Solar, other hospitals throughout the region have also had solar panels installed.
Thus, the HIRS Program aims to strengthen the resilience of health systems and critical services in Syria by leveraging advanced technologies, whether in renewable energy, electric mobility, or telecommunications as well as other technologies related to water, sustainable waste management, and health-tech. The integrated approach aims at adding solar power, electric vehicles, telemedicine, WASH, and medical equipment maintenance, thereby reducing dependency on external variables.
By leveraging clean and advanced technology, the program will:
As thousands of families continue to be displaced, living in tents with limited access to basic human necessities and minimal protection from the extreme weather conditions, UOSSM USA sought out a more permanent solution to the displacement crisis.
In 2021, UOSSM USA partnered with Hathi Hayati Turkey, a local nonprofit, to alleviate the suffering of these displaced families by: i) helping to establish villages with all civil structures for a fully functioning town and ii) moving the displaced families from tents into permanent housing.
Each completed village will consist of the new homes, a clean water tank, a school for all grade levels, a medical point, solar powered electricity, and a place of worship, and will include families with special needs cases, families with amputees, and families with professionals to help the community thrive, such as doctors, nurses, teachers etc.
UOSSM USA IS A FEDERALLY TAX-EXEMPT NON-PROFIT 501(C)(3) CHARITABLE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION. TAX ID 47-3403988
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