Syria: An aid convoy crosses to Idlib, and a water station returns to work in the city of Al-Bab

In its latest update issued on Friday, the office reported that the convoy was carrying 200 metric tons of food aid from the World Food Program, which is enough for about 80,000 people, in addition to school supplies from UNICEF.

The office also noted that the humanitarian community in Syria continues to provide vital support to people in eastern Aleppo.

UNICEF reported that after months of testing and repair work, water is flowing again from the Ain al-Bayda station, which has been out of service since 2017.

About 300,000 people in the city of Al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo – including displaced families and host communities – depend on this water station. Water is reaching part of the population of the city of Al-Bab, but urgent support is needed to restore the plant to its full capacity, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Movement of displacement and return

OCHA also said that to date, some 664,000 people remain newly displaced across the country, most of them in Idlib and Aleppo, since 27 November.

This represents a decrease of about 64,000 people compared to last week. The office noted that more than three-quarters of the displaced are women and children.

The office explained that the United Nations and its partners continue to track population movements on a daily basis through a working group headed by the office.

He said that the movements of returnees are still variable, as approximately 486,000 people returned to their areas of origin – most of them to the Hama and Aleppo governorates – during the past month.