The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
OCHA - Press Conference: Briefing on the first regional mission of UN and NGO Emergency Directors to the Middle East
/
29:24
/
MP4
/
1.7 GB
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
OCHA - Press Conference: Briefing on the first regional mission of UN and NGO Emergency Directors to the Middle East
Syria, Lebanon update – OCHA, WFP, World Vision International
TRT: 03 min 35s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 06 DECEMBER 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy Division, OCHA, and Emergency Directors Group Chair
- Samer AbdelJaber, Director, Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, WFP
- Isabel Gomes, Global Lead Disaster Management, World Vision International
SHOTLIST
-
- Exterior médium-wide: UN Geneva flag alley.
- Medium wide, UN Geneva Press room, podium and speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Samer AbdelJaber, Director, Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, WFP: “The recent escalation is a crisis on top of another. Over 280,000 people have fled their homes in northwest Syria; this number could go up very fast. Throughout the mission, it was clear that there is no humanitarian solution to the crisis that besets this region.”
- Medium wide, UN Geneva Press room, podium and speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Samer AbdelJaber, Director, Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, WFP: “So far, the three border crossings with Türkiye are still operational, so we didn't see any impact on the crossings. Aid is coming in by different partners supporting the aid deliveries from [the] Türkiye side. But maybe also in Aleppo, I can say there is distributions of aid; WFP, for example, has opened and supported two community kitchens that are providing hot meals in both Aleppo as well as in Hama, so, the aid partners are on the ground and doing everything they can to basically provide the assistance to the people.”
- Medium-wide, speakers at podium, Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Samer AbdelJaber, Director, Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, WFP: “It’s at a breaking point at the moment in Syria, after 13 or 14 years of a conflict, over three million Syrians are severely food insecure and cannot afford enough food and malnutrition is at global levels - emergency levels - a total of 12.9 million people in Syria were classified as food insecure and needed food assistance before the recent crisis. So that’s why it’s another call for support for funding to all the organizations and humanitarians working across and all over Syria.”
- Medium, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Samer AbdelJaber, Director, Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, WFP: “The humanitarian response in Syria faces its largest shortfall ever, with less than a third of the [$] 4.1 billion needed for 2024 received to date, immediate investment in serious humanitarian and recovery efforts is crucial to ensure that the needs of those who crossed back are adequately met.”
- Medium-wide, automatic camera and TV screen showing Edem Wosornu.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy Division, OCHA, and Emergency Directors Group Chair: “People have returned faster than they even left the conflict; more than 600,000 people have begun to go back home, and as we speak, I'm sure they are settling back. The problem is what they would find when they go back home and the need for our response to pivot very quickly.”
- Medium-wide, Press room, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Isabel Gomes, Global Lead Disaster Management, World Vision International: “There was this particular girl that we spoke with; she told us the story that at the time of the conflict, when she had to move, she was pregnant, close to nine months, and she had to walk kilometres and kilometres and kilometres. Then she asked us if she could show us her baby, and we saw her baby was two months. But when we asked if the baby had received vaccines, she said the baby had never received vaccines.”
- Medium, Edem Wosornu speaking into mic.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy Division, OCHA, and Emergency Directors Group Chair: “We also are concerned about the impact of mines and unexploded ordnance in the some of these locations. We've seen the impacts of this across in different contexts and we are really asking our mine action colleagues and others to support the Government in demining activities because when people who want to go back home, who’ve gone back home, the farmers who are trying to salvage the rest of the olive harvest, there's fears that this that could be impacted there.”
- Wide, TV journalists, control booths.
- Medium-wide, journalists filming with mobile phone.
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
Aid has continued to flow from Türkiye across three border crossings into the embattled northwest and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that it had opened community kitchens in Aleppo and Hama – cities now reportedly occupied by HTS fighters.
In neighbouring Lebanon, meanwhile, senior UN aid official Edem Wosornu expressed deep concerns for the safety of more than 600,000 people who have begun to return to their devastated homes, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah kicked in on 27 November. “I'm sure they are settling back, the problem is what they would find when they go back home,” she told journalists in Geneva, highlighting the potential dangers to farmers from unexploded ordnance.
Syria: a crisis upon a crisis
Speaking in Geneva after a joint UN and NGO Emergency Directors assessment mission to the Middle East from 25 November to 1 December, the UN World Food Programme (WFP’s) Samer AbdelJaber described Syria’s new unfolding emergency as “a crisis on top of another” – a reference to the country’s civil war that began in 2011, sparked by a civil uprising against the Government. Since then, it has drawn in regional and international powers and defied the efforts of the Security Council and wider global community to bring it to an end. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have been killed and many more are believed to remain in the Government’s prisons.
Mr. AbdelJaber, who heads WFP’s Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy arm, warned that around 1.5 million people are likely to be displaced “and will be requiring our support. Of course, the humanitarian partners are working on both sides of the front lines we're trying to reach the communities wherever their needs are.”
The WFP official noted that the sudden escalation has not shut down three humanitarian border crossings with Türkiye and that aid continues to flow into Aleppo, Syria’s second city. The UN agency “has opened and supported two community kitchens that are providing hot meals in both Aleppo as well as in Hama,” he said, adding that “the aid partners are on the ground and doing everything they can to basically provide the assistance to the people”.
Millions of Syrians are already in crisis because of the war which has destroyed the economy and people’s livelihoods, threatening their survival. “It’s at a breaking point at the moment in Syria, after 13 or 14 years of a conflict, over three million Syrians are severely food insecure and cannot afford enough food,” Mr. AbdelJaber said, adding that a total of 12.9 million people in Syria needed food assistance before the latest crisis.
Despite the clear need for more support, international funding for Syria’s $4.1 billion humanitarian response plan “faces its largest shortfall ever”, the WFP official continued, with less than one-third needed for 2024 received to date.
Lebanon returnees in danger
In neighbouring Lebanon, senior UN humanitarian official Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy Division at the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that people affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters “have returned faster than they even left the conflict; more than 600,000 people have begun to go back home, and as we speak, I'm sure they are settling back. The problem is what they would find when they go back home and the need for our response to pivot very quickly.”
Among those in need today are many Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country, only to be displaced several times since their arrival, explained Isabel Gomes, Global Lead of Disaster Management at NGO World Vision International: “There was this particular girl that we spoke with; she told us the story that at the time of the conflict, when she had to move, she was pregnant, close to nine months, and she had to walk kilometres and kilometres and kilometres. Then she asked us if she could show us her baby, and we saw her baby was two months. But when we asked if the baby had received vaccines, she said the baby had never received vaccines.”
Returning farming communities also face deadly dangers from the fighting in southern Lebanon’s wartorn zones, OCHA’s Ms. Wosornu explained: “We also are concerned about the impact of mines and unexploded ordnance in the some of these locations…we are really asking our mine action colleagues and others to support the Government in demining activities because when people who want to go back home, who’ve gone back home, the farmers who are trying to salvage the rest of the olive harvest, there's fears that this that could be impact there.”
ends
Teleprompter
All right, good morning everyone and welcome to this first press briefing of the day.
And I see quite a number of people who have joined online, so I am happy with that.
The briefing today is about the first regional mission of United Nations and NGO emergency directors to the Middle East.
They went to Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan from late November and up till the 1st of December and they will tell you all about that mission, what they found, what they saw and what needs to happen next.
I will take the speakers in order, as they said.
To my left first we have Eden Busono, who is Director, Operations and Advocacy division at ORCHA and the chair of the Emergency Directors Group.
To her left we have Isabel Gomez, who is Global Lead Disaster Management at World Vision International.
Very happy to have an NGO with us today.
And finally, on my far left, we have Samer Abdel Jaber, who is Director, Emergency Coordination and Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy from the World Food Programme WFP.
We will take some introductory remarks from the three speakers and then as usual, we will take your questions as they arrive on my screen, so hidden over to you.
Thanks a lot, Yens, and good morning and good to have you all here with us.
As Yen said, we undertook the first ever emergency director group mission to the Middle East.
We went to Cairo, we went to Beirut and then Amman.
We were meant to go to Damascus as well, but that didn't pan out.
In addition to our colleagues here, World Vision and WFP, we were with WHOUNHER, UNICEF, the UN Population Fund and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
It was an opportunity to really try and understand first hand the, the complexity of the, the regional crisis and its impact on, of course, people.
We were, we were, we arrived in Lebanon hours after the ceasefire and you, it was just immediate in terms of people's willingness and urgency to go home.
We saw people heading out immediately.
We, we, we, we literally got there hours after the ceasefire.
[Other language spoken]
We were meant to meet families in IDP sites and again, they were on their way home.
The regional dimensions of this crisis is why we we decided to, to, to do this very, very adverse mission.
And at the time we decided to go to, to Lebanon, there was no ceasefire.
And our colleagues on the ground, the humanitarian coordinator, the leadership were willing to, to receive us and we had options to also visit sites in the South.
That didn't pan out because as I said, people are going home.
But my colleagues will, will, will update you.
We one thing that was very clear was the need for adherence to international humanitarian law, no matter where things are, no matter where people are, no matter what is happening.
And this was, you know, incredibly important.
Let's not forget that the 2006 conflict had killed some 1200 people, 2020, four, 3800 people, including of course women and children.
And this had left trauma.
Of course, 2006 was already traumatic for the Lebanese, 2024 even more trauma.
This was while there was a sense of relief for the, the people with the ceasefire.
Of course we recognise the fragility of the ceasefire in, in Lebanon and people were talking about that.
Our staff who had witnessed or been part of the 2006 conflict were traumatised by what was happening and feared that the fragility of the ceasefire would mean that things could, could change any moment from from while we were there.
[Other language spoken]
During our visit, as I said to Saleh, in the eastern part of the country, we met with just two families.
The the beauty about the ceasefire is that people just got onto to trucks or you know, and, and went back home.
We had two families that we interviewed, including Syrian families as well.
And the second we the Syrian refugees, the second we got out of there, they got into the trucks that they had they had rented and went back home.
I have to say though, so the economic impact of all of this, we asked the families how much a truck cost to to rent to to send them back home.
It was 30 to 50 U.S.
dollars before the war.
[Other language spoken]
dollars to rent A truck to go back home.
We this situation is even more dire.
As we drove to the eastern part of the country to Sale and Becca Governorate, we saw the the sign of course, early signs of winter.
It is cold and our our first impressions, of course, where that people need to be.
You know, the winterized response was urgent.
People have returned faster than they even left the, the, the, the, the conflict.
More than 600,000 people have begun to go back home.
And as we speak, I'm sure they are settling back.
The problem is what they would find when they go back home and the need for our response to pivot very quickly.
The authorities and the humanitarian community have indeed adopted that to the response very quickly.
Before the seas, 5 hours before we arrived, our colleagues were looking at, you know, supporting people in sites.
Five hours after we arrived, because of the ceasefire, they were looking at supporting people back home.
So how do we pivot this response?
The government of Lebanon was and the authorities we met were trying their best.
We were pushing for for the need to, to keep the spotlight on Lebanon.
Ladies and gentlemen, press, I'll stop here and give the the floor to my colleague Isabel.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
As in in all conflicts, we, we are addressing the humanitarian needs of all affected populations.
And in the case of Lebanon, that includes the displaced Lebanese, the Syrian refugees and the migrants as well.
In Zali, in Becca Valley, in these visitors that Adam was just talking about, we also visit the a group of Syrian teenagers, refugees.
The average age of these girls that we spoke Weed was between 1617 years old.
And in this group of about 11:50 teenager girls, they all have been displaced in their lives several times, some two times and others at least four times.
Some of them have never been in school because of the amount of times that they have been displaced.
And there was this particular girl that we spoke with that she told us the story that at the time of the conflict when she had to move, she was pregnant close to 9 months and she had to walk kilometres and kilometres and kilometres.
Then she asked us if she could show us her baby and we saw her baby was two months.
But when we asked if the baby had received vaccines, she said the baby had never received vaccines.
As Adam said, people are exhausted and this includes the humanitarian workers and in particular our national staff of UN agencies, international NGOs and local NGOs.
There isn't one single person that we talked to that has not been affected in one way or another by by the conflict.
We were particularly touched by the stories that we heard from the colleagues of Nina Dina, a UNHL staff member that tragically died in a missile strike with her youngest son in September.
So, as you know, more aid workers in particular in this region have been killed in 2024 than in any other year on record.
States and parties to the conflict must therefore protect humanitarian workers and bring an end to impunity.
We want to also reinforce that we need to continue to support and, of course, to strengthen the support that we need to give to our colleagues and to the communities to rebuild their lives.
And now I pass on to my colleague Samer.
Thank you very much, Isabel.
And you know, as we landed in in an Amman at the end of our visit, we held virtual meetings with the the humanitarian team inside Syria as the situation was unfolding very fast in in Aleppo.
While the safety of our staff is of utmost importance, we fully intend to continue to deliver on our humanitarian mandate together with our partners.
The resumption of the conflict in Syria has caused new displacement and of course winter is increasing the vulnerabilities.
At the moment, our priority is maintaining emergency operations while developing adaptive scenarios to support the people that are being displaced and the host communities alike.
As we quickly adapt to new realities.
Mobilising additional funding is really important at this stage.
It's one of our top priorities.
Urgent, flexible and NE marked funding is needed for both Lebanon and Syria.
The team in Lebanon is already working to extend the flash appeal for another three months to respond to the fast evolving situation.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response in Syria faces its largest shortfall ever, with less than 1/3 of the 4.1 billion needed for 2024 received to date.
Immediate investment in Syria's humanitarian and recovery efforts is crucial to ensure that the needs of those who crossed back are adequately met.
The recent escalation is a crisis on top of another.
Over 280,000 people have fled their homes in northwest Syria.
This number could go up very fast.
Throughout the mission, it was clear that there is no humanitarian solution to the crisis that we set this region.
Faced with such blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and the most basic requirements of humanity, it has never been more important for humanitarian workers, our partners and government to speak with one voice.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
To our speakers.
Let me see online if we have a first question from Musa.
Asif from Almaydin TV and Musa, please let us know to whom you want to direct your question.
[Other language spoken]
Forward to you.
Thank you very much.
Yes, my question concerning the South of Lebanon, I would like to ask about the activity of human, of organisations of United Nations and NGOs during the war.
My informations, it indicates that the these organisations were almost absent from the area of southern Lebanon until now their activity remains very low.
Can you tell us if the the this is exact and why if if it's the case?
Thank you thank you for your question.
So during during the these these the two months of of conflict, UN agencies and their partners, international NGOs and national NGOs were working in supporting the affected populations in a collective shelters where they were, but they were still supporting the South.
There was a number of convoys that was taking aid to to the affected populations in the South.
I think something important to mention is that there is there is good and strong humanitarian capacity in, in Lebanon, the strong civil society and many local organisations that have continued to work throughout, throughout the the conflict, in particular, in particular in the South providing life saving activities such as hot meals and water and shelter, etcetera.
So there was there was support provided in the in the South.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for taking my question.
I had a question about the the number of people displaced in Syria that was mentioned, that was mentioned.
And I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about that.
I think I heard 280,000, if you could give some details on, on where that is And also when it comes to to contingency planning through how, how many, what is the contingency planning like?
What are you expecting to see in Syria with this, this these new developments also in terms of of hunger perhaps?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for this question.
So in the first few hours after the 27th of November, we saw that the number went up from 48,000 to almost 280,000 people who got displaced so far.
And if the situation continues evolving in that pace, we're expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support.
Of course, the humanitarian partners are working on both sides of the, the, the, the front lines.
We're trying to reach the communities wherever the the needs are and basically working our teams on the ground to secure safe routes so that we can be able to move the the aid and the assistance to the communities that are in need.
I have to say that collectively, we know that the situation in Syria was was not easy before this escalation.
So we're looking at the crisis on top of crisis.
And that's why we're really emphasising the urgent need for funding, flexible funding so that we can actually support all the efforts for the humanitarian partners to pre position and be able to ready for any scenario that basically in terms of displacements that could evolve in, in the coming days or months.
Thank you very much.
Let me just give the floor back to Adam.
I think you had something to say about Southern Lebanon as well for the first question from Almaya Dean.
Thank you so much, Moussa and my colleague Isabel covered a lot of it.
I just wanted to reinforce the fact that as the war conflict was going on, we were focused also on humanitarian notification systems to ensure that our assistance was notified by the parties the conflict.
This is one piece of work that we do as a humanitarian community, working very closely with with parties the conflict to ensure that our convoys and our assistance, as my colleague Isabel mentioned, gets through.
Let's also not forget what we said earlier that the lives of humanitarian workers are are at stake every day and we have this concept of stay and deliver where we will stay at all costs no matter what, as long as we are, we can deliver assistance.
And here we lost lives in Lebanon amongst the humanitarian community.
Just wanted to reinforce the the fact that assistance is given no matter where as long as we can negotiate access, which is part of, of course, our Resolution 46, United Nations Resolution 46182, which also allows us to negotiate access no matter where.
So just wanted to reinforce that point.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
That my important point.
[Other language spoken]
No, thank you for the response.
I have another question please.
I would like to ask about the aid approved by the Paris Conference, which is around eighty, $100 million.
Has any of it reached humanitarian organisations?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think it's always important to track the funding coming through different conferences.
We believe that the flash appeal, the Lebanon Flash appeal, which is currently 60% funded has some of those elements of the funding that came were pledged through at the the conference.
In terms of the exact numbers, we don't have that.
We can get that to you.
But I think it's important to to stress the fact that the the the Lebanon Flash Appeal has been well funded.
As my colleague Summer said, we are asking for flexible funding where our humanitarian partners can adjust the funding based on what is happening on the ground, IE as we were preparing to fund and to assist people in areas of displacement as soon as they returned home.
We're also readjusting our proposals to be able to, to assist people in areas where they've returned.
So, you know, our flexibility of funding is what we're asking our donors to support us with.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Just a follow up, sorry on the on the displaced, I was wondering, it was very interesting, but I was wondering if you might know how many people have been displaced just since the November 27th.
It seemed like there was an inclusion of people who were displaced already if you had the numbers before and then and then since, yeah, that was my clarification.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We can confirm the figures if you want double check it.
But the figures we have in front of us is 280,000 people since the 27th of November.
That's the updated figure we have as of last night.
And that does not include the figure of people who fled from Lebanon during the recent escalations.
That's just in the northwest here and E here.
Thank you very much.
Any other questions?
[Other language spoken]
Going once, going twice?
I don't see that.
Do you want to have just a few final remarks before we leave it?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So I'll hand over to Adam.
Thanks a lot and thank you very much to Musa Tanina and everyone else online.
I think this is an opportunity to to reflect on, as we mentioned, three things, right.
One is that the continued urgency for all adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law, a lot of civilians, a lot of blood has been shed in this region.
And we saw the impact of of the conflict on on people.
As I said and my colleagues have said, the psyche of people fraught with fear, fraught with, you know, our colleagues who one minute are in the office trying to respond to to crises, the next minute removing people from the rubble.
So the psychosocial impact of this crisis amongst, you know, in amongst the community will have a long lasting impact.
So that's number one.
#2 when we talked about returns and indeed Moses question about, you know, supporting across Lebanon and the South and and wherever else.
We also are concerned about the impact of mines and unexploded ordinance in the some of these locations.
We've seen the the impact of this across in different contexts.
And we are really asking our our mine action colleagues and others to, to support the government in the mining activities because when people who want to go back home, who've gone back home, the farmers who are trying to salvage the rest of the olive harvests, there's fears that this there could be impact there.
So one, international humanitarian law must be respected at all costs.
The second message that would ask and we'll leave with you or leave with, you know, after our mission is the need for funding.
The Syria Appeal is woefully underfunded.
As we end the year, it is some 30% funded and it's not enough, as my colleague Isabel said, lots of Syrian refugees also in Lebanon, as we saw with very little hope, girls who have not gone to school, sons who have no future and they cannot return home.
And there is no funding for our humanitarian appeal in Syria.
And as we speak, of course, you all know the escalations that are ongoing.
[Other language spoken]
We need flexible funding for all crises across this region, which is super important.
And the third one, of course, is the need for our, our, you know, our own colleagues, the, the UNRWA job work that they do across the region in Gaza and in, in, in, in West Bank, as well as of course in Lebanon and other locations is critical because it's about basic services to communities that needed to the most across Palestinians across the Middle East.
So these are the three key messages that I will impart with you today.
Maybe just I'll add one thing on on, on Syria.
You touched on the urgent need for funding and I can talk from a food insecurity perspective.
It's at the breaking point at the moment in Syria.
After 13 or 14 years of conflict, over 3,000,000 Syrians are severely food insecure and cannot afford enough food.
And malnutrition is at global levels, emergency levels.
A total of 12.9 million people in Syria were classified as food insecure and needed food assistance before the recent crisis.
So that's why it's another call for support for funding to all the organisations that humanitarians working across all over Syria.
[Other language spoken]
So the the, the other point I will bring is the importance of centrality of protection in all sectors that that we do.
And one of the things that means is inclusive responses, as I had mentioned earlier, responses that includes migrants, refugees and displaced populations.
And of course, the importance to continue to strengthen the capacity of local actors because they are the first responders and they are part of the communities.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
So we have Isabel Sacco from Spanish news agency FA over to you, Isabel.
Hey, good morning and thank you.
It's just exactly it's about the the the the comment that has been made on the concerned about the the use of mice and unexploded ordinance.
So I want to know if you have your, you're now aware of that this is a widespread problem or or you just you are concerned that it could be a problem or if this type of weapons have been really used in this last 2-3 months in development?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think this is based on our experience, right on what we've seen in conflicts like Ukraine.
Every time there is a, a, a conflict zone and there's a buffer zone, people have been, there's restrictions on returns to the South of Lebanon and there's a buffer zone that we are trying to work towards de conflicting.
But how can you tell people who've left their homes for two months, who've left their farms for for two months, who have no economic means to stop going to their farms?
So this is a pre emptive conversation that we're having.
Also, I am, we've seen it several times in several conflicts.
I don't have the evidence for right now for Lebanon, but we do believe that there are possibilities for, for this sort of thing to happen.
My, my biggest plea then based on that is for us to continue supporting the authorities in the government in trying to secure some of these locations, but also to support people as they return home.
And this is something that the UN and its partners are striving to do.
And of course, we need funding and flexible funding to be able to do so.
Thanks for your interest in this question.
[Other language spoken]
All right, we have the coming Bruce from New York Times over to you, Nick.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question and for the briefing.
And apologies, I came in a little late, so I apologise if you've already addressed this question.
But I just wondered if you could bring us up to date on the opportunities for cross-border aid from Turkey at this point.
How many crossing points are open?
And is assistance from that source reaching LFO as we speak?
What are the major constraints at this point?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for this question.
So far the the three border crossings with Turkey are still operational.
So we didn't see any impact on, on the crossings.
Aid is coming in for by different partners supported supporting the, the, the aid deliveries from Turkey side.
But maybe also in Aleppo, I can say there is the distributions of aid.
WFP, for example, has opened and supported 2 community kitchens that are that is providing hot meals in both Aleppo as well as in, in, in Hama.
So the aid partners are on the ground and doing everything they can to basically provide the assistance to the people in, in, in affected communities.
OK, Musa, you have a final question for us.
[Other language spoken]
And that is really my final question.
How many Syrian refugees remain in Lebanon and in which region of Lebanon specifically?
Maybe in the Becca or where exactly?
[Other language spoken]
So we don't have that.
[Other language spoken]
We don't have the exact numbers because of course, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, will be best placed to respond to this.
And our colleague was with us on the mission.
What we saw in in Becca, in the spontaneous sites in Becca governorate were a lot of Syrian refugees, as my colleague mentioned, Isabel mentioned very little hope of a future.
And what we saw, and I have to say we saw this even on the flight from Amman to to Beirut, an anti Syrian sentiment that was brewing.
And I think from what we understand, it's the worst that we've seen with the economic situation post conflict, with the fragility of the, of the, of the ceasefire in, in, in Lebanon, there is a sentiment, anti Syrian sentiment amongst people that we, we saw the Syrians must go home.
But as my colleague said, if there is no funding and there's no human, you know, assistance going on in Syria, it's very difficult to expect Syrians to go home.
We let me reinforce the point of seeing girls not able to be educated working in potato factories, as they said from the areas of displacement.
Let me stress that it's always vulnerable.
We always vulnerable when you're displaced once.
But as Isabel said, we spoke to girls and adolescent girls who'd been displaced multiple times.
When we asked them, have you, do you go to school?
They said we've never been to school.
We left Syria when we're one years old, one two year olds and so on.
So this is a generation whose education is completely obliterated, whose future is lost.
It's important to never forget to reinforce the Syrian refugee story as well, because these are people who deserve to be protected in accordance to international refugee law and of course, international humanitarian law.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
And Adam, I don't see any more questions on my screen.
So I just wanted to say thank you very much to our three speakers and to you online.
And I will see all of you in about 45 minutes for our regular news briefing.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]