UN official: I touched the renewal of hope in Syria despite the enormous humanitarian needs

And Sornko was talking from Gaziantep in Türkiye via video to reporters at the press conference of United Nations agencies in Geneva today, Friday, about her mission to Syria, during which she visited Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Lattakia.

She noted that 16.5 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection in Syria, adding: “Population movements and renewal of displacement continue. While the severity of hostilities has calmed down, local tensions and clashes make protection risks a great concern and increased.”.

On her visit to Lattakia, Sornko said: “We faced the reality of exacerbation of violence. The people we talked with have suffered heavy losses, yet some fear that the next is worse. The people we met remained repeating the first and most important question about security.”.

Three messages

The official at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spoke about what she described as “Endometric trend” For the return of refugees and displaced people since December 2024, as more than a million internal displaced people have returned to their original areas, and more than half a million refugees from neighboring countries.

But she added: “Insecurity, house damage, insufficient services, lack of livelihoods, and the risk of unexploded ammunition are still main obstacles to return.”.

She emphasized the continuation of humanitarian operations, despite the increasing challenges and progress, as the United Nations and its partners reach about 2.4 million people per month through operations inside the country and through the borders.

Dedicated to the interpretation: “We hope that the US declaration will contribute to the lifting of sanctions on Syria, as well as the recent European Union’s decision to lift its economic sanctions, to facilitate relief, recovery and development efforts.”.

Three messages were the most important for women to meet in one of the villages of Aleppo countryside, saying: “They need to recover, reconstruction, basic services, and return to their livelihoods, including agriculture.”.

The risk of unexploded munitions

The Director of Health Emergency at the World Health Organization, Altaf Moussani, who also visited Syria, warned of the risk of unexploded munitions and war waste that caused injuries as at least 909 injuries, including nearly 400 deaths and 500 injuries, were recorded, most of them women and children.

Moussani said at the video conference on the video: “Children and women, who practice their daily lives, try to get water and food, try to rebuild, and walk through agricultural lands and roads, and possibly rivers, as they have no idea for the place of unexploded munitions.”.

He talked about the recording of more than 1444 cases of cholera linked to seven deaths, specifically in Lattakia and Aleppo, especially around the camps of the displaced. He added: “We know that when cholera spreads in the camps, it may become a forest fire, which increases the rates of disorder and deaths.”.

Moussani warned that 50 percent of children with severe acute malnutrition (wasting) do not receive the necessary treatment, adding that: “From the perspective of public health, we have to be able to monitor this danger and intervention to save these children.”.

He also pointed to the suspension of work in 50 percent of the birth hospitals in northwestern Syria, due to the financing discounts that we are witnessing in the world, but they are very clear in Syria.