Middle East

In many areas of Yemen, devastated by conflict, ongoing insecurity hampers WFP’s efforts to get food to the people in need.
WFP/Ammar Bamatraf

Yemen: UN agency appeals to all sides to allow food in for hundreds of thousands under siege

31 December 2015
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed to all parties to the conflict in Yemen to allow food in for hundreds of thousands of hungry people under siege in the central city of Taiz, who have been deprived of supplies for many weeks.
Families fleeing violence in Ramadi, Anbar province, walk across Bzebiz Bridge into Baghdad province in Iraq.
UNICEF/Wathiq Khuzaie

Iraq: UN chief congratulates Prime Minister al-Abadi on recapture of Ramadi from ISIL

30 December 2015
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to congratulate him on the success of the Iraqi security forces in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), calling the liberation of the city of Ramadi an important victory.
Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) staffers carrying WFP aid for people stranded in besieged Old Homs City during a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
SARC Homs

Syria: UN and partners aid evacuation of injured from four besieged towns

28 December 2015
More than 460 people, including the seriously injured and their family members, were evacuated from four towns under siege in Syria today with the help of the United Nations and its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners following a local agreement between the fighters on the ground.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered more than 100 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies for more than one million beneficiaries in eight districts of Taiz governorate, Yemen.
WHO/Yemen

UN delivers medicine for 1.2 million people in war-ravaged central Yemen

28 December 2015
The United Nations health agency has delivered more than 100 tonnes of medicines and supplies for 1.2 million people in strife-torn Yemen’s central Taiz governorate, where over 3 million people, almost 400,000 of them internally displaced, are in dire need of humanitarian aid.
A street lined with rubble and destroyed buildings in the Old City area of Homs, Syria.
UNICEF/Nasar Ali

UN envoy sets 25 January as target date to begin intra-Syrian peace talks

26 December 2015
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria has set 25 January 2016 as the target date to begin talks between the parties aimed at ending the five-year-old conflict, his spokesperson announced today.
Ancient City of Bosra, Syrian, World Heritage site.
© UNESCO/Véronique Dauge

Syria: UN condemns archaeological destruction at major World Heritage site of Bosra

24 December 2015
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the destruction of parts of the ancient Syrian city of Bosra in fighting two days ago, alerting the world art market to potential trafficking in artefacts from the World Heritage site.
Homes in Yemen destroyed by coalition airstrikes.
Almigdad Mojalli/IRIN

Yemen: Security Council deeply concerned by cessation of hostilities’ violations

23 December 2015
The Security Council today expressed “deep concern” over the number of violations of Yemen’s cessation of hostilities agreement and urged all parties to adhere to the accord and exercise maximum restraint following the adjournment of peace talks until January 2016.
A young Syrian girl sits on a broken chair by her tent in Faida 3 camp, an informal tented settlement for Syria refugees in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

Conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon worsen considerably, UN reports

23 December 2015
Some 70 per cent of the over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon now live below the Lebanese extreme poverty line, a big rise over 2014, and food insecurity is mounting, the United Nations reported today, calling for greater access to the domestic labour market to mitigate the crisis.
Yemenis in Sana’a search for survivors after a bombing by the Saudi-Arabia led coalition.
Almigdad Mojalli/IRIN

With parties ‘deeply divided over path to peace,’ Yemen faces Balkanization, Security Council warned

22 December 2015
The Security Council must act now to end the fighting in Yemen or face the irreversible Balkanization of the country, creating safe havens for terrorists and potentially shattering regional stability, the United Nations human rights chief warned today.
An observation post of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, Syria.
UN Photo/Gernot Maier

Security Council approves six-month extension of UN observer force in Golan

22 December 2015
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for six months, until 30 June 2016, underscoring the need for the Force to have at its disposal all necessary means to carry out its mandate safely and securely, “including technology and equipment to enhance its observation of the area of separation and the ceasefire line, and to improve force protection, as appropriate.