Syria: Tragedy to come despite currently low COVID-19 cases – Security Council Briefing

Briefing by Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on Syria, Humanitarian situation during the Security Council Open VTC.

Learn more about the humanitarian crisis in Syria: https://www.unocha.org/syrian-arab-republic/about-ocha-syria

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said “tragedy beckons” in Syria despite the relatively low number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, adding, “We cannot expect a health care system decimated by almost a decade of war to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest nations.”

Addressing the Security Council today (29 Apr) in a virtual meeting, Lowcock said there have been 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Syria, including three deaths. He said while there has been a modest increase in testing capacity, it remained vastly insufficient. He said, “We cannot expect mitigation measures to succeed where millions are displaced in crowded conditions, without adequate sanitation, and no assets or safety net to fall back on.”

Lowcock said the UN was working to assess the financial requirements for its contributions to the COVID-19 response in Syria, which will be in addition to the costs of responding to the pre-existing humanitarian needs.

Turning to the north-west of the country, the UN humanitarian chief said there had been no airstrikes since the 6 March ceasefire announced by Russia and Turkey but noted that intermittent shelling continued almost every day in some front-line areas. He said the ceasefire may have brought a degree of respite, but the humanitarian situation in the north-west is as dismal as it has ever been, with alarming levels of stunting among children and malnutrition among pregnant women.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“The cross-border operation into the north-west is operating at record levels to try and relieve such suffering. In March, 1,486 trucks crossed the border from Turkey, under the UN program. So far in April, over 1,100 trucks have been dispatched. But it’s not enough. The need to prepare for the potential arrival of COVID-19 in the north-west makes efforts to scale up all the more urgent. Items for cross-border transshipment – such as hygiene kits and tents for isolation units – are being prioritized accordingly.”

Lowcock stressed that, at this stage, it was impossible to sustain the scale and scope of assistance into the north-west without the cross-border operation. He said this was further illustrated by the failure to replace the former cross-border operations in the north-east with assistance delivered cross-line.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“Cross-line deliveries to the north east from Damascus have not filled the gap in critical medical supplies that were, until January this year, delivered through Al Yarubiyah border crossing.”

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said gaps in medical supplies in north-east Syria are widening at a time when there should be an urgent scale up to prepare for COVID-19, particularly after the confirmation on the for case in the region.

Lowcock underscored that COVID-19 and its ramifications would become a multiplier of humanitarian needs in Syria. He said this demanded a response that uses every possible means of reaching people in need, wherever they are located and ensures that measures taken outside Syria, which would restrict access to essential medical and other related supplies, are reorganized so that they do not have residual effect.


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