Photo by Luiz Rampelotto
The United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief today (22 August) 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 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, that “the humanitarian situation has worsened” since her last visit in March, adding that according to the Government’s own figures, 1.2 million people are sheltering in public buildings and many more are staying with relatives and friends.
She said “both those who have fled and their hosts have urgent humanitarian needs due to the widening impact of the crisis on the economy and people’s livelihoods.”
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.
Amos said that lack of access to those in need and insufficient funding were hampering efforts by UN agencies and their partners to provide assistance.
She 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.”
Amos told reporters she had tried to convince the Government to allow some of the bigger international NGO organizations into the country, but they were “very, very reluctant to do this” as they may offer support to the opposition.
She said she “made it very clear that all the work that we do on the humanitarian side is independent, is impartial of any kind of broader political agenda.”
Amos also warned of an impending health crisis as Syria produces most of its medicines in factories in Aleppo and other cities and “they have now come under the impact of the fighting.”
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, 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.
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 on international partners to contribute more generously to be able to increase assistance.
Source: UN TV
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Established in September of 2004, Europa Newswire specializes in UN editorial images.
Europa Newswire holds one of the largest image libraries of The United Nations’s political events, in private hands.
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Political Madhouse
Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos Comments on Syria
Photo by Luiz Rampelotto
The United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief today (22 August) 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 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, that “the humanitarian situation has worsened” since her last visit in March, adding that according to the Government’s own figures, 1.2 million people are sheltering in public buildings and many more are staying with relatives and friends.
She said “both those who have fled and their hosts have urgent humanitarian needs due to the widening impact of the crisis on the economy and people’s livelihoods.”
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.
Amos said that lack of access to those in need and insufficient funding were hampering efforts by UN agencies and their partners to provide assistance.
She 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.”
Amos told reporters she had tried to convince the Government to allow some of the bigger international NGO organizations into the country, but they were “very, very reluctant to do this” as they may offer support to the opposition.
She said she “made it very clear that all the work that we do on the humanitarian side is independent, is impartial of any kind of broader political agenda.”
Amos also warned of an impending health crisis as Syria produces most of its medicines in factories in Aleppo and other cities and “they have now come under the impact of the fighting.”
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, 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.
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 on international partners to contribute more generously to be able to increase assistance.
Source: UN TV
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About Europa Newswire
Established in September of 2004, Europa Newswire specializes in UN editorial images. Europa Newswire holds one of the largest image libraries of The United Nations’s political events, in private hands.