March 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned this Thursday that 3.7 million boys and girls affected by the earthquakes in Syria face “a catastrophic combination of threats”, for which it has urged the community international to help families “for the long term”.
According to the executive director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, the earthquakes add to other threats such as the contagion of diseases transmitted by contact or through water or the lack of access to basic services for vulnerable families, all after almost 12 years of conflict in the country.
“It is not enough simply to offer immediate relief: we must commit to supporting these families in the long term, helping them to regain a sense of stability and hope,” said Russel, calling for them to provide them with access to “essential” services such as clean drinking water. , medical care or psychosocial support.
In Syria, UNICEF needs 172.7 million dollars (about 163 million euros) to provide immediate life-saving assistance to 5.4 million people, including 2.6 million children, affected by the earthquake.
In northwestern Syria alone, the UN organization has reached more than 400,000 affected people with nutrition or water, sanitation and hygiene services and supplies. Prior to the earthquake, UNICEF had critical humanitarian supplies on standby, which began reaching children and their families within 48 hours of the first quake. So far, UNICEF trucks with humanitarian supplies have been sent to help more than 1.8 million children and their communities in northwestern Syria.
