HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announces nearly $601 million in new humanitarian funding for Syria and neighbouring countries
Relief agencies reach four besieged areas with emergency food and other humanitarian assistance since January
Ground conflict and aerial bombardment displace nearly 472,000 people between April and December 2015
Health teams vaccinate 3 million children across Syria against polio in 2015
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On February 4, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced nearly $601 million in new humanitarian funding for Syria and neighboring countries, bringing total USG humanitarian assistance to date to more than $5.1 billion. Secretary Kerry announced the funding at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London, where USAID Bureau for the Middle East Assistant Administrator Paige Alexander and USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) Assistant Administrator Thomas Staal attended on behalf of USAID. The announcement includes nearly $364 million from State/PRM and $232 million from USAID/FFP to support humanitarian efforts in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey, and nearly $5.3 million from USAID/OFDA for humanitarian assistance inside Syria.
In response to locally negotiated ceasefire agreements, three joint humanitarian convoys accessed Idlib Governorate’s besieged towns of Al Fu’ah and Kafrayya and Rif Damascus Governorate’s besieged towns of Al Zabadani and Madaya in January. The convoys delivered food and relief supplies to meet the basic needs of 40,000 people in Madaya and 20,000 people in Al Fu’ah and Kafrayya for approximately one month.
In late January, the UN revised its list of besieged locations in Syria. Notably, the UN added Rif Damascus’ towns of Madaya and Moadamiyya and Damascus’ Yarmouk neighborhood to the list, increasing the total number of besieged locations to 19.
During the final quarter of 2015, Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) and Government of the Russian Federation (GoRF) aerial attacks on civilian infrastructure further escalated, constraining already limited safe areas for conflict-affected civilians and threatening humanitarian access.