Top UN humanitarian official in Syria allocates $19 million for emergency response in Aleppo
Amid an overall scale-up in relief operations in Syria, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Ali Al-Za’tari, approved today $19 million from the Syria Humanitarian Fund to sustain immediate life-saving and early recovery assistance for tens of thousands of people in war-ravaged Aleppo.
“Families from east Aleppo are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance such as food and non-food items; and registration of birth, death, marriage and family papers and other legal services, Mr. Al-Za’tari said, adding that many people are also returning to severely damaged homes in the midst of winter while others have no home left to return to and are staying in shelters or with family members.
“The UN is committed to reaching all people in need wherever they are with shelter, water, food, nutrition, health, protection, education, and early recovery and livelihood support,” he stressed.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCAH), the UN and its implementing partners have significantly scaled up operations to address the most urgent needs and pave the way to recovery efforts in Aleppo.
This Syria Humanitarian Fund allocation is part of these efforts, and will finance immediate assistance in all affected neighbourhoods of eastern Aleppo, as well as to collective shelters and other priority areas in Aleppo city where internally displaced people are staying.
In addition, the funds will also provide residents of eastern Aleppo and displaced people with early recovery and livelihood interventions and support the rehabilitation of basic services and rubble removal to create the conditions for people to return to their homes.
OCHA says that in 2016, UN agencies and partners operating in Syria and cross-border disbursed more than $220 million for programmes and services to people in need in Aleppo city, which included $14 million from the Syria Humanitarian Fund.
The Syrian Humanitarian Fund is a multi-donor humanitarian pooled fund which disbursed $46 million in 2016 to UN agencies and international and national non-governmental organizations in Syria. It is managed by the OCHA Syria office in the capital, Damascus.