Some five and a half million people in Syria’s capital Damascus, have been deprived of water for the past seventeen days, according to a representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the war-torn country.

Fighting in the Wadi Barada area where much of Damascus’s water supply originates has resulted in an acute water shortage, which has forced many families to seek supplies from private vendors.

Reem Abaza spoke to UNICEF’s Shushan Mebrahtu about the shortage.

Duration: 2’52”