Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, Director, Coordination Division, OCHA, on behalf of Acting USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Ms. Joyce Msuya - Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, 20 September 2024

New York, 20 September 2024

As delivered

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, Members of the Security Council,

Thirteen years since the start of the conflict, over 16 million people across Syria remain in need of humanitarian aid. No segment of the population is untouched by this crisis.

And as is often the case in conflicts, the impact on children – who account for almost half those in need in Syria – is particularly devastating.

This month, as the school year resumes, we should remind ourselves that more than a third of school-aged children – around 2.5 million – will not be rejoining their peers in the classroom this year. We must ask the question – what does this mean for the future in Syria?

A further 1.6 million children are at high risk of dropping out during the year. Children who have been displaced, and those with disabilities, are particularly at risk.

It is the increased pressures on families that often force them out of school: the deepening economic crisis and rising prices following years of conflict, and debilitating shortfalls in humanitarian and development funding.

These pressures often push families into adopting negative coping strategies, including sending young children – especially boys – out to work, and pushing more adolescent and underage children into child or forced marriage.

A huge number of children are also suffering the harmful effects of food insecurity.

Levels of acute maternal and child malnutrition have grown three-fold in the past five years. More than half a million children will require life-saving treatment for malnutrition this year.

Meanwhile, hostilities and explosive remnants of war continue to exact a devastating toll on children.

Since June, nearly a third of the 105 civilian deaths verified by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have been children, and earlier this month, six children were among the 13 injured when a drone attack hit a market in Western Aleppo.

Thousands of schools have been damaged during the conflict, and schools continue to be used by parties to the conflict and attacked. Many other schools have had to be repurposed to host displaced families. Overall, one in three schools, that’s one-third, cannot be used for educational purposes.

Some 2.5 million children remain displaced across the country, including nearly 1 million living in camps. Many have never known any other kind of life.

In camps and other temporary sites, children face a heightened risk of sexual violence and other forms of abuse, particularly those separated from their families.

Tens of thousands of children with suspected family ties to ISIL fighters continue to be detained in Al-Hol and other camps in the north-east.

And let us not forget that half of the 6 million Syrian refugees still hosted by neighbouring countries are children.

Mr. President,

The UN and partners continue to do what we can to provide people with the vital assistance they need, reaching 4.4 million people throughout Syria each month, out of 10.8 million targeted.

But due to funding shortfalls, this aid is reaching 2 million people a month less than last year, even as needs have grown.

With only three months left in the year, the humanitarian appeal remains less than 26 per cent funded.

So far this year, 1 million people have received food baskets – leaving two-thirds of the severely food insecure without essential support. 1.5 million children and women, out of 3.4 million targeted, have received critical nutrition services; 800,000 children and teachers – out of 4.3 million targeted - have received education assistance; and nearly 200,000 children and parents – out of 2.9 million targeted – have received child protection support.

Mr. President,

These persistent and harmful shortfalls in humanitarian funding only heighten the importance of providing predictable and sufficient funds for humanitarian response while also supporting early recovery projects.

Early recovery support is particularly needed to rehabilitate and secure energy supplies for water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, schools, and health centres across Syria.

Mr. President,

Given the scale of needs, and the scarcity of funding, it also remains critical that all available modalities be used to deliver humanitarian assistance.

The cross-border operation from Türkiye remains vital for getting assistance to more than 2.5 million people in need in north-west Syria – half of whom, again, are children.

And cross-line missions are also critical for reaching underserved areas in other parts of the country.

For the first time earlier this month, the UN was able to carry out a cross-line assessment mission to Al-Kisrah district, on the eastern side of the Euphrates river in Deir Ez-Zor – a place where more than 85 per cent of the population needs humanitarian assistance, including more than 22,000 people living in displacement sites.

We continue to engage to find areas to further improve the sustainability and efficiency of access to this area.

Since 13 September, humanitarian teams have also conducted a series of cross-line missions to assess and begin repairs on the Alouk water station. Restoration of the station, which has been out of service since October last year, is essential for providing water to more than 600,000 people living in Hasakeh governorate.

Meanwhile, our partners are making progress on repairs to the Ein al-Beyda water station, which delivers water to some 200,000 people in al-Bab.

Unfortunately, however, we face challenges in carrying out other planned cross-line missions, including to Idleb, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abiad, and Rukban.

Mr. President,

Thirteen years of conflict and hardship have pushed the people of Syria well beyond the limits of ordinary endurance.

It is a generational crisis, in which many children have had the innocence of youth snatched away, and many others have grown up never knowing a life without insecurity, instability and deprivation.

They deserve better.

As a minimum, we demand respect for international humanitarian law – to ensure the protection of children and other civilians, and to ensure they have access to the essentials they need, including humanitarian support.

We need sustained attention on the crisis and humanitarian funding to allow us to maintain presence and operations at the scale required.

Critically, we need investment in early recovery efforts – to start expanding the opportunities for families to rebuild their lives and livelihoods and enable a brighter future for their children.

Finally, as [UN Special Envoy for Syria] Mr. [Geir] Pedersen has just reiterated, we need the parties to make progress on securing a resolution to the conflict.

Meaningful change will only come for the people of Syria when it is underpinned by peace.

Thank you.