In response to the results of the vote on a UN resolution continuing to allow cross-border aid into Syria, Oxfam’s Head of Office in New York, Brenda Mofya said:
“The UN Security Council’s decision extends a vital lifeline to the four million people in northwest Syria, the majority of them women and girls, who depend on the aid provided through this increasingly fragile agreement for survival.
“However, six months is not enough time. Cholera is spreading across Syria and millions of people, many of whom have been repeatedly displaced, are struggling to survive the harsh winter. Rampant inflation, growing hunger, scarcity of clean water and lack of basic services mean that 15.3 million Syrians across the country are predicted to need humanitarian assistance in 2023 – the highest number of people since the start of this long-running, now largely-forgotten, conflict.
“The successive failure of the UN Security Council to seize upon its responsibility to create a more sustainable means to reduce suffering and improve prospects for generations blighted by this horrific conflict is shocking. To halt the spiral of suffering the Council should ensure that all ways to provide aid are in place beyond July 2023. This would include extending more long-term support for the cross-border mechanism, supporting efforts to significantly expand access for people in Syria’s northwest to unhindered and predictable aid across conflict lines, supporting sustainable access to basic services and funding the UN Humanitarian Response Plan.”
Notes to Editors:
- Source for numbers of people in need: Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator at Security Council Briefing on Syria, 21 December 2022
- Since 2013, Oxfam in Syria has been on the scene to get clean water to people affected by the conflict. We do this by trucking water to those who have no access to clean water and repairing damaged sections of the water and sewerage network so more families can access safe, clean water in their homes. Oxfam is also responding to people’s urgent needs by distributing cash.
- Oxfam is working with people to rebuild their lives. We support farmers to start farming again through trainings and distribution of seeds and animal fodder as well as repairing irrigation systems. We support bakers to start making bread again by rehabilitating bakeries destroyed by conflict.
- Oxfam is also working to support women to have a seat and a voice at the decision-making table within their households and communities.
- Oxfam is currently working in 6 governorates and has been reaching on average 1 million people per year for the past three years.