SYRIA: AS HARSH WINTER SETS IN, UN REFUGEE AGENCY BEGINS AID AIRLIFTS FROM IRAQ

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 10 Dec 2013 15:00:03 -0500
Subject: SYRIA: AS HARSH WINTER SETS IN, UN REFUGEE AGENCY BEGINS AID
AIRLIFTS FROM IRAQ
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

SYRIA: AS HARSH WINTER SETS IN, UN REFUGEE AGENCY BEGINS AID AIRLIFTS
FROM IRAQNew York, Dec 10 2013 3:00PMAs the Syrian crisis passes the
tragic 1,000-day mark, the United Nations refugee agency is working
hard to meet the "immense needs" of desperate communities there,
including across lines in conflict zones and in neighbouring
countries, while also bracing for what meteorologists predict could be
the region's harshest winter in a century.

"This winter is forecast to be one of the harshest in 100 years,
meteorologists are saying, and so UNHCR had started its winter
programme earlier this year," Amin Awad, the Syria Refugee Response
Coordinator for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a
press briefing in Geneva.

He <"http://www.unhcr.org/52a71ee16.html">said that 'winterization
kits' have been distributed in Syria and surrounding countries, which
the UN estimates to be struggling to meet the needs of some two
million Syrian refugees. Insulation for tents, plastic sheeting and
materials for water-proofing are among the items being distributed,
and cash-for-fuel schemes have been implemented.

"UNHCR is ahead of schedule in many areas, on schedule in some areas,
and behind schedule in areas where it did not have access," Mr. Awad
said, explaining that one of the most difficult-to-reach areas is
Ashaka, Kamblishi in the north and northeast of Syria.

There, with permission from Damascus and the cooperation of the Iraqi
Government, the UN and partners are working on an airlift of winter
supplies from Erbil in Kurdistan to north and north-eastern Syria.
"The price tag for the winterization programme is $195 million, of
which $77 million would be earmarked for inside Syria," Mr. Awad
added.

As for the wider region, he said a snow storm is being forecast for
the highest areas of Lebanon. The Ministry of Social Affairs has put
out an alert and the Government has mobilized the military to help
distribute relief items. Other challenges include the shift of
populations from refugee camps to host communities. In response, UNHCR
is providing support at three levels: for displaced communities, for
local governments and for host communities.

Answering a question on access inside Syria given by the authorities,
he said UNHCR now has more access than before, but sometimes even when
access was authorized, some areas could not be reached due to fighting
or other security incidents.

Explaining further, he said UNHCR staff had been shot at, harassed at
checkpoints, experienced checkpoints moving, or a change in the
personnel controlling those posts.

"UNHCR has to negotiate in every step of the way as it delivered …
across lines," he said, adding that the agency not only depends on the
Government but also on collective goodwill, political awareness,
support and orientation of the armed groups controlling diverse areas
in Syria today.

As to the number of planned flights for the airlift, Mr. Awad said
that it would involve seven flights over the next few days, with the
possibility of more in the near future.

UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said that since the start of 2013,
UNHCR has brought relief supplies to more than three million people in
Syria, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other
vulnerable individuals. Although the Syrian crisis had passed the
1,000-day mark, the amount of aid UNHCR was able to deliver "is still
nowhere near enough."

UNHCR's assistance has reached all of Syria's 14 governorates, and
each week saw a further approximately 250 trucks dispatched. Mr.
Edwards announced that UNHCR has participated in more than 40
inter-agency cross-line missions into conflict zones. Over 35 per
cent of UNHCR assistance has been to displaced persons in
hard-to-reach or "hot spot" areas.

Aid deliveries are being managed by UNHCR with the support of local
partners, he said, noting that recent supply efforts focused on
helping civilian populations in Aleppo and Rural Damascus, the two
governorates hosting the majority of IDPs. Aid had also been
delivered to Idlib province, which was one of the most difficult areas
to reach, and Hama province, where security previously prevented UNHCR
from delivering any assistance between May and the end of November.

"Despite the scale of the efforts over the past months, the needs
remain immense," Mr. Edwards said, and insecurity routinely prevents
access to many areas. With an estimated 6.5 million people now
internally displaced and many more in need of help, UNHCR is working
to provide additional support including healthcare (971,000
beneficiaries), legal protection and community services (155,000
beneficiaries), shelter rehabilitation (70 shelters) and financial
assistance for the most vulnerable (175,000 beneficiaries).Dec 10 2013
3:00PM
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