Syria: UN warns of ‘continuing’ impact of hostilities on civilians

Hibapress

The United Nations has warned of the “continuing” impact of hostilities in Syria on civilian populations, while deploring the underfunding of the humanitarian response plan launched for the country for the current year.

At least 13 civilians, including six children and three women, were injured in violence at a market in Aleppo, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its daily update, noting that such acts remain a major concern.

The UN agency stressed the need to protect civilians and infrastructure, adding that health services, in turn, are being reduced due to underfunding. Half of the health facilities in the northwest of the country are at risk of closing by the end of the year, according to the same source.

OCHA further noted that humanitarian operations in Syria remain limited due to lack of funding, specifying that the 2024 humanitarian response plan has mobilized only 26% of the $4.1 billion needed to assist nearly 11 million people across the country.

At a recent Security Council meeting, UN humanitarian and political leaders stressed that the world cannot afford to ignore Syria, where the humanitarian and political crisis continues to wreak havoc more than a decade after the start of the civil war.

According to the UN, more than six million Syrians are refugees or asylum seekers abroad and more than seven million are internally displaced.

Across the country, nearly 17 million people, or more than 70% of the population, are now in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children particularly affected.

In addition to this suffering, Syria is still grappling with the consequences of the catastrophic earthquakes of February 2023, which inflicted serious human and material damage, according to the international organization.