Syria

A health worker screens a four-year-old boy for malnutrition at an IDP camp in north-east Syria.
© UNICEF/Masoud Hasen

‘Put Syrians first…finally’, UN rights investigators urge after deadly decade of conflict

18 February 2021
Human Rights

Along with an end to the “instrumentalization” of humanitarian aid, victims of Syria’s decade-long civil war and their families need justice to help rebuild their lives, Human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Thursday.  

Sixteen families live in a damaged school in Binish, a city in northwest Syria.
OCHA

Without ‘constructive international diplomacy’ Syria’s peace process will not move forward

9 February 2021
Peace and Security

 The UN Special Envoy for Syria said there had to be “constructive international diplomacy” if the peace process is to move forward in any way, appearing before the Security Council behind closed doors on Tuesday.  

Refugees in the Al-Hol camp in Syria’s north-eastern Hasakeh Governorate. (file)
© UNICEF/Delil Souleiman

‘Unknown number’ of foreign nationals have died in squalid Syrian camps, say rights experts

8 February 2021
Human Rights

“An unknown number” of foreign nationals have died while being detained in squalid camps in Syria’s northeast, senior UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Monday.

Destroyed buildings in Aleppo, Syria, where chemical weapons were allegedly used. (file photo)
OCHA/Halldorsson

End impunity for use of chemical weapons in Syria, UN disarmament chief urges Security Council

4 February 2021
Peace and Security

The United Nations top disarmament official, on Wednesday, stressed the urgent need to not only identify those who have used chemical weapons in Syria, but also hold them accountable for their deeds.

A destroyed health centre in east Aleppo, Syria.
UNOCHA

‘We can’t continue like this’: UN envoy’s grim assessment of Syria peace process

29 January 2021
Peace and Security

Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, lamented the slow progress of the peace process in the country, in remarks to the press on Friday, following a meeting involving members of the UN-facilitated Syrian Constitution Committee, in Geneva.

Floods inundated IDP camps in north-west Syria in January 2021.
UNOCHA

Syria floods: Humanitarians working ‘round the clock’ to provide urgent relief

29 January 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarian staff have been working “round the clock” to reopen access roads and provide emergency relief from the disastrous impact that recent floods have unleased on displaced people living in camps in northwest Syria, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator there said on Friday. 

A woman tries to rescue her belongings after floods inundated her camp in north-west Syria in January 2021.
UNICEF/Khaled Akacha

Tens of thousands in northwest Syria lose shelter after floods inundate camps

27 January 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Heavy rains and floods in north-west Syria has worsened the plight of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons, destroying their tents, food and belongings in the midst of winter, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday. 

A destroyed classroom at a girls high school in Syria, that was attacked in March 2020.
UNICEF/Ali Haj Suleiman

Syria: 18 children killed since the start of the year, UNICEF reports

25 January 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The brutal fighting in Syria continues to exact a terrible toll on children, with at least 18, including a one-year-old killed in incidents involving explosive weapons and unexploded ordnance, since 1 January, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday. At least 15 others were wounded. 

A destroyed health centre in east Aleppo, Syria.
UNOCHA

Senior panel probing violations in Syria, examining new measures to safeguard humanitarians

21 January 2021
Peace and Security

The UN chief announced on Thursday that he has set up an independent Senior Advisory Panel on strengthening the mechanism whereby humanitarian workers and sites are better protected from attack in Syria, according to a statement released by his spokesperson. 

Children stand outside the tent where they live in a remote desert camp in southern rural Homs, Syria.
© UNICEF/Abdulaziz Aldroubi

Decade of conflict triggering ‘slow tsunami’ across Syria, Security Council hears 

20 January 2021
Peace and Security

After a decade of conflict, economic collapse compounded by COVID-19, corruption and mismanagement, the UN Syrian envoy told the Security Council on Wednesday that “a slow tsunami” is now “crashing across Syria”.