Photo by Luiz Rampelotto
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos held talks in Syria today (14 August) on ways to increase humanitarian aid to civilians trapped or displaced by intensifying fighting between government and rebel forces.
The UN’s humanitarian chief began a three day trip by visiting four schools were some 20,000 displaced persons are housed while fleeing the increasing violence in that country.
Amos visited schools in Zahera District of Damascus where hundreds of displaced people are living in precarious conditions, often lacking sufficient food, bedding and clean water.
She was accompanied by Dr. Abdulrahman Attar, President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), which is providing humanitarian assistance with support from the Red Cross / Red Crescent movement and UN agencies.
Amos said there were “a number of issues that those in the schools are concerned about” and indicated the situation has deteriorated since her last visit in March.
She expressed hope “that the fighting stops and that there is peace, stability and security.”
Amos, who is also the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, is aiming to draw attention to the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the impact of the conflict on civilians caught up in the fighting, and to attempt to gain greater access to assist them.
The Government of Syria estimates that 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes and are living in temporary shelters or with host families.
Source: UNTV
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