Syria – UN official urges international community to boost funds for humanitarian
needs
August 23, 2012: The United Nations humanitarian chief today appealed to the international
community to increase its funding to help 2.5 million Syrians who are in urgent need
of basic services such as shelter, food, health care, water and sanitation. “The humanitarian
situation has worsened since my visit in March,” the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, told reporters at UN Headquarters
in New York, adding that lack of access to those in need and insufficient funding
are hampering efforts by UN agencies and their partners to provide assistance.
“We
face problems with access to people in need, particularly where there is intense and
ongoing fighting, but funding is also holding us back,” Ms. Amos said. “If we had
more resources, we could reach more people, especially as we have established solid
partnerships with local non-governmental organizations and with the Syrian Arab Red
Crescent.”
Syria has been wracked by violence, with an estimated 17,000 people,
mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began
some 17 months ago. Over the past month, there have been reports of an escalation
in violence in many towns and villages, as well as the country’s two biggest cities,
Damascus and Aleppo.
Last week, Ms. Amos paid a three-day visit to the strife-torn
country and Lebanon to see for herself the impact of the intensifying conflict and
to discuss ways to increase humanitarian assistance. “Both those who have fled and
their hosts have urgent humanitarian needs due to the widening impact of the crisis
on the economy and on people’s livelihoods,” she said.
In particular, the
UN official expressed serious concern about the health conditions in schools, which
are being used as shelters for displaced persons, and warned of the negative impact
that this would have on children when the new school year starts next month. “There
will be a disruption to the education of thousands of children when the academic year
begins in September unless other solutions are found to house the internally displaced,”
Ms. Amos said.
In her remarks to the press, the Emergency Relief Coordinator
also highlighted the work of UN agencies and their partners, which have provided food
aid to more than 800,000 people over the past month, and delivered relief supplies,
such as hygiene kits, blankets and other basic items, to more than 60,000 people during
the first two weeks of August. “But this is not enough,” Ms. Amos stressed. “Not when
we are dealing with the needs of an estimated 2.5 million people.”
The official
noted that the appeal by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) for $180 million in funds for humanitarian aid in Syria has been only half-funded,
and urged international partners to “contribute more generously” to be able to increase
assistance. “We will continue to do everything to support those displaced both inside
and outside Syria,” Ms. Amos said, and reiterated her call for all those engaged in
the conflict to respect civilians and abide by international humanitarian law.