Published : 29-07-2018
The top UN official for humanitarian affairs said Friday that aid should continue to reach millions of people across Syria.
"Humanitarian organizations continue to reach millions of people across Syria. More than 3 million people received food last month alone. But needs in many areas have continued to grow, in particular in the south-west and north-west, as well as in Riqqa," Mark Lowcock, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told the Security Council in New York.
With regard to the southwest, Lowcock said the UN and its partners have mobilized a response that was reaching tens of thousands of people there, but some 110,000 newly displaced remained in Quneitra in areas largely cut off from aid.
"The response now needs to be urgently scaled up across the southwest, and in Quneitra in particular," he said.
On eastern Ghouta, he said its humanitarian needs remained high, though some reports said markets were beginning to function again. "Close to 10,000 people from eastern Ghouta, mostly men between the ages of 15 and 65, are reported to remain in displacement sites across rural Damascus."
Moving up north, Lowcock said since November 2017, the total number of people in need of aid in Aleppo and Idlib governorates has increased by close to 600,000, to a total of 4.2 million, and of these people, half are in acute need.
He added that 182,000 persons have fled their homes southwest of Syria and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Concluding his briefing, the under-secretary-general noted the UN appeal for Syria this year was still substantially underfunded and emphasized the need for safe, unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian assistance.
The top UN official for humanitarian affairs said Friday that aid should continue to reach millions of people across Syria.
"Humanitarian organizations continue to reach millions of people across Syria. More than 3 million people received food last month alone. But needs in many areas have continued to grow, in particular in the south-west and north-west, as well as in Riqqa," Mark Lowcock, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told the Security Council in New York.
With regard to the southwest, Lowcock said the UN and its partners have mobilized a response that was reaching tens of thousands of people there, but some 110,000 newly displaced remained in Quneitra in areas largely cut off from aid.
"The response now needs to be urgently scaled up across the southwest, and in Quneitra in particular," he said.
On eastern Ghouta, he said its humanitarian needs remained high, though some reports said markets were beginning to function again. "Close to 10,000 people from eastern Ghouta, mostly men between the ages of 15 and 65, are reported to remain in displacement sites across rural Damascus."
Moving up north, Lowcock said since November 2017, the total number of people in need of aid in Aleppo and Idlib governorates has increased by close to 600,000, to a total of 4.2 million, and of these people, half are in acute need.
He added that 182,000 persons have fled their homes southwest of Syria and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Concluding his briefing, the under-secretary-general noted the UN appeal for Syria this year was still substantially underfunded and emphasized the need for safe, unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian assistance.
