Around 120 critically-ill children trapped in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta, in Syria, are in urgent need of evacuation, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

UNICEF Representative in the country, Fran Equiza, said in an interview with UN News on Wednesday, that humanitarian access continues to be limited, with at least 12 per cent of children under-5 acutely malnourished.

The first few weeks of the year have seen tens of thousands newly displaced by fighting between government and opposition forces, not just in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta and Idlib, but also Hama, Damascus, Aleppo, Hassake, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.

“The recent violence has resulted in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of civilians, including women and children,” said a statement from the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, on Wednesday.

Reem Abaza managed to get through by phone to Mr Equiza, in Damascus, and asked him for the latest on Eastern Ghouta.

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