The war in Syria, now in its fifth year, has devastated the country's civilian population, with 80 percent of its people now living in poverty and even more without electricity.
Life expectancy has decreased by 20 years and economic losses are estimated at over $200 billion since the start of the conflict in 2010, according to a new United Nations report detailing the "systematic collapse and destruction" of Syria's economy, infrastructure and workforce.
Another report comparing nighttime satellite imagery taken in March 2012 to photos taken in December 2014 shows that an average of 83 percent of the country's lights have gone off. In cities like Aleppo, where large numbers of residents have fled due to fighting, researchers found that as much as 97 percent of lights are off, reported NPR.
The U.N. report found that nearly three million Syrians lost their jobs during the conflict, meaning that more than 12 million people are now living without their primary source of income. Unemployment skyrocketed from 14.9 percent in 2011 to 57.7 percent by the end of 2014.
Life expectancy has fallen 27 percent, from 76 years to under 56 years, and the country's education system is nearly nonexistent.
"As huge swatches of the community have lost the opportunity to work and earn an income, just over 4 in 5 Syrians now live in poverty," the report said. "As it has become a country of poor people, 30% of the population have descended into abject poverty where households struggle to meet the basic food needs to sustain bare life."
The Syrian population has decreased 15 percent, from 20.87 million in 2010 to 17.65 million at the end of 2014. With 3.33 million people fleeing to other countries, Syria is now the second-largest refugee population in the world behind Palestinians.
Even though the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution last year to open up aid routes, activists say it hasn't been enough.
"The U.N. and the world have failed, and things have gotten worse for civilians," Gawain Kripke, director of policy and research at Oxfam America, told NPR. "Our ability to provide assistance has been limited, and there are more people in places that are hard to reach now, than there were before the U.N. took action."
Aid groups can't even get to 4.8 million people, he said, adding that while the Islamic State group definitely plays a role, the U.S. has been too focused on the Islamic State group while "ignoring the suffering that's going on."
