Humanitarian crisis in Syria worsening

The top U.N. humanitarian official said Monday that the conflict in Syria continues to escalate and that he is “horrified” by what he’s seen. Stephen O’Brien spoke to reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Syria.”I am absolutely horrified by the total disregard for civilian life by all parties in this conflict,” he said.

Syria has been locked in a civil war since 2011. At least 250,000 Syrians have been killed, more than a million injured, and almost half of the population have been displaced, according to O’Brien.

Warning that the conflict in Syria undermines the security of the region and elsewhere, O’Brien called on the international community to give more. He said that the humanitarian appeal for the year is less than 30% funded, some three-quarters of the way into 2015. “It’s vital that we say that this is unacceptable ….,” O’Brien told CNN.

“Equally, we have to give space for the political track because there is no military solution to this. There is not even a humanitarian solution. We can do our best to try and save the lives and protect the civilians, but almost anything we do is never going to be enough,” he said.

[CNN]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.