A senior United Nations humanitarian official said damage to roads, fuel shortages and harsh winter weather in Syria are all factors hampering the agency’s response to Monday’s earthquake, which killed more than 1,440 in the country and left millions in need of assistance.
In an interview with Reuters, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mustafa bin Lemleih, said in an interview via video link from Damascus, “The infrastructure is damaged and the roads we used to use in humanitarian work have been damaged, and we have to be creative in how to reach people, but we are working hard.”
Ben Lemleih indicated that many of those whose homes were destroyed spend the night outside or in cars in very cold weather without access to basic necessities.
He added that the United Nations is working to expedite the mobilization of all possible assistance to the affected areas.
“Whatever aid and money we have, we are using it at the moment. We hope that we can renew it to meet normal needs,” Ben Lamleeh continued.
Even before the 7.8-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of Monday morning, the United Nations estimated that more than four million people in northwest Syria depended on cross-border aid.
The United Nations says that the number of people in need of humanitarian support is now greater than at any time since the conflict began in this country in 2011, with 70 percent of the population in need of assistance.
Face the effects of a major earthquake
Syria confirmed on Monday that any humanitarian aid it receives to face the consequences of the earthquake will reach all Syrians across the country.
The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, told reporters in New York that if any aid is provided to Syria, it will reach the entire population.
“We assure the United Nations of our readiness to coordinate to provide humanitarian aid to all Syrians throughout the country,” Sabbagh said, after meeting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convey the Syrian government’s request for assistance.
“We are ready to work with everyone who wants to provide assistance to the Syrians in all parts of Syria,” he stressed.
He added, “Access from inside Syria is available, so whoever wants to help Syria can coordinate with the government, and we will be ready to do so.”
