UN calls for ‘vital’ aid to Syria during winter

DAMASCUS: The United Nations on Thursday called for “life-saving” funding to help six million people in Syria survive winter, after more than 11 years of devastating conflict.

The relief money is “urgently needed to provide vital winter aid”, according to a statement issued by two senior officials from the UN´s humanitarian agency OCHA. The agency said it had received only 42 percent of its requested relief budget for Syria this year.

“This is the twelfth year of crisis and the twelfth winter of hardship for the Syrian population,” OCHA´s acting coordinator ElMostafa Benlamlih said. In the statement, Benlamlih along with OCHA´s Syria coordinator, Muhannad Hadi, warned millions of Syrians -- including displaced people living in camps -- are living under “perilous” conditions and “will not be protected against the severe winter” without assistance.

Amid nationwide electricity rationing and chronic fuel shortages, many families are struggling to keep their homes warm this winter. The UN officials said they were “particularly concerned about families who cannot afford electricity, to buy warm clothes or heating supplies”.