UN agency chiefs urge access for aid to civilians in Syria

DAVOS / AP

The heads of major UN organizations on Monday called for access to civilians cut off from humanitarian aid in Syria, saying the world “must not stand silent” even though the high-profile siege of the Syrian city of Aleppo is over.
The joint appeal from the UN’s refugee agency, humanitarian aid coordinator OCHA, children’s agency UNICEF, the World Food Program and the World Health Organization urged for an “immediate, unconditional and safe access” to all Syrian families and children in need.
According to the statement, up to 700,000 people — nearly half of them children — live in 15 besieged areas of Syria.
Many lack “the most basic elements to sustain their lives” and face “continued risk of violence,” said the statement, which came from Davos in Switzerland, where business, political, cultural elites and non-governmental group leaders are gathering for the World Economic Forum.
WFP’s Ertharin Cousin, Anthony Lake of UNICEF, Stephen O’Brien of OCHA, WHO’s Margaret Chan and Filippo Grandi of UNHCR were in essence striving to keep international attention focused on the nearly six-year civil war in Syria, which has by some estimates left a half-million people dead.
Last month, Russian air power helped forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad crush the opposition-held enclave in the northern city of Aleppo, a major win for Assad’s forces, which had besieged the rebels for months.