UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- A convergence of factors, including armed conflict, a sinking economy and COVID-19, are contributing to growing needs across Syria, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday.
Health, water and sanitation infrastructure are poor or non-existent all around the country. As of January 2021, around 13.4 million people are estimated to require some form of humanitarian and protection assistance. This is an increase of more than 2 million people compared with 2020, said OCHA in a release.
Some of the greatest needs are in food insecurity. The World Food Programme estimates that at least 12.4 million people, nearly 60 percent of the population, are now food insecure. In one year, an additional 4.5 million Syrians have become food insecure, it said.
About 2 million Syrians are estimated to be living in extreme poverty, and an estimated 2.4 million children are out of school.
Humanitarian assistance is a lifeline for millions of people in Syria, making the humanitarian response in all its forms, including cross-line and cross-border, critical, said the office.
In 2020, 7.6 million people were helped every month on average with humanitarian assistance, an increase of 1.9 million people compared with 2019, it said. Enditem
