The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
OCHA Press Conference: Syria humanitarian situation - 22 March 2024
As aid funding dries up, Syria conflict remains among deadliest to civilians
A UN official on Friday appealed for about $4 billion in humanitarian assistance for Syria, warning that funding was almost non-existent and that the Gaza war has had spillover effects adding to the suffering of the Syrian people.
“The Syria crisis remains one of the most deadly to civilians in the world. Hostilities continue to plague various parts of Syria and have recently seen a sharp spike, especially in the north,” said Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, speaking from Damascus to a press briefing at the United Nations in Geneva.
From 1 January to 31 December 2023, 454 civilians, including 88 women and 115 children, were killed as a result of the conflict. The Syria war began 13 years ago, and since then the needs of the people have grown exponentially.
Today, a staggering 16.7 million people require some form of humanitarian assistance in Syria – an increase from 15.3 million in 2023 and 14.6 million in 2022. Over 7 million people are internally displaced and nearly as many are refugees in other countries (a majority are in the neighboring countries, Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, etc.). At least 12.9 million people are food insecure across the country.
As of the beginning of March, only 0.02 percent of the 2024 humanitarian response plan requirements had secured funding.
Syria's vulnerability to climate shocks, exacerbated by conflict, includes water scarcity and the devastating earthquakes in February last year wreaked havoc on a situation that was already catastrophic. The earthquakes killed some 6,000 people and injured more than 12,800 in Syria, increasing the strain on services, causing displacement and inflicting widespread damage.
In addition, the ongoing escalation in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and south Lebanon had already had spillover effects, including on affected populations and critical civilian infrastructure across Syria.
“Since the escalation in Gaza begun, we have already seen multiple calls by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) inciting revenge attacks worldwide, including against Arab governments whom they accuse of ‘protecting Israel’ “, said Mr. Abdelmoula.
He added that “there has been a significant increase in the air attacks by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) targeting various elements that are here in the Syrian territory. And … that has led to displacement of populations in the targeted areas.”
The targeting of airports in Syria has also impacted humanitarian air services which led to the cancellation of almost 50 humanitarian flights in 2023.
“Syrians are increasingly driven to desperate measures as they undertake treacherous journeys to other countries in search of opportunities,” said the UN official. “In many cases, they paid the ultimate price for these dangerous endeavors. No human being should have to risk his or her life in search of a decent life.”
Urging countries to act even "out of sheer national self-interest”, he warned that “we could see a situation where migration to Europe will increase. I hasten to say that in 2023 we have seen 181,000 new applications for asylum in Europe and that represents 38 per cent compared to 2022.”
Despite the complex operating environment in Syria, UN and humanitarian partners were able to reach 6.8 million people in need every month in 2023.
-ends-
STORY: Humanitarian Situation in Syria – OCHA
TRT: 2:21”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 22 March 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Med shot: UN flag alley
2. Wide shot: speaker at the podium with journalists in press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria (from Damascus): “There has been a significant increase in the air attacks by the IDF targeting various elements that are here in the Syrian territory. And second, and that has led to displacement of populations in the targeted areas.”
4. Med shot: speaker at the podium filmed from behind during the press conference
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria (from Damascus): “The Syria crisis remains one of the most deadly to civilians in the world. Hostilities continue to plague various parts of Syria and have recently seen a sharp spike, especially in the north.”
6. Wide shot: press room with speaker on screens
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria (from Damascus): “Since the escalation in Gaza begun, we have already seen multiple calls by ISIS inciting revenge attacks worldwide, including against Arab governments whom they accuse of ‘protecting Israel’.”
8. Med shot, journalist in press room and screen with speaker
9. SOUNDBITE (English) - Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria (from Damascus): “Syrians are increasingly driven to desperate measures as they undertake treacherous journeys to other countries in search of opportunities. In many cases, they paid the ultimate price for these dangerous endeavors. No human being should have to risk his or her life in search of a decent life.”
10. Wide shot: Press room with staff managing zoom
11. SOUNDBITE (English) - Adam Abdelmoula, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria (from Damascus): “We could see a situation where migration to Europe will increase. I hasten to say that in 2023 we have seen 181,000 new applications for asylum in Europe and that represents 38 per cent compared to 2022.”
12. Med shot, zoom operators behind window
13. Wide shot: press room with screens STORYLINE
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , UNFPA , UNHCR , UNOPS , WHO
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Press conference on the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Victims Still Waiting: A Global Briefing on Transitional Justice Around the World
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , OCHA , WHO , UNICEF , UN WOMEN , OHCHR , IOM , UNHCR
Update on Ebola from WHO and OCHA, update on the situation of children with the beginning of school in Ukraine from UNICEF, UN Women on the impact of the settlers and restrictions on women and girls in West Bank, OHCHR on the recovery of extensive human remains in Gaza, IOM and UNHCR on the new wave of displacement in Yemen
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Update on the human rights situation in Belarus by the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , OHCHR
Update on the human rights situation in Syria by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNOG , IOM , UN WOMEN , UNCTAD , WHO , UNECE
IOM Yemen's Western Coast displacement; UN WOMEN on Gaza; UNCTAD Strait of Hormuz disruptions impacts; WHO Ebola logistics in DRC; WHO smoking and infertility; UNECE Data centres and energy.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.