HIGHLIGHTS
• The USG announces an additional $360 million in humanitarian assistance for the Syria crisis
• Up to 150,000 people remained displaced in Idlib Governorate as of June 11 following increased conflict that began in late March
• Attacks on medical facilities in Syria persist, resulting in the deaths of more than 600 health care personnel since the start of the conflict
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• On June 25, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice announced more than $360 million in new USG funding to respond to urgent humanitarian needs, including for food assistance, health care, safe drinking water, and shelter support, in Syria and neighboring countries. The announcement—made at a White House commemoration ceremony for World Refugee Day— brings the total USG humanitarian funding for Syria to more than $4 billion since 2011.
• Attacks on medical facilities continue to present significant security concerns for humanitarian organizations. On June 17, representatives of humanitarian organizations testified before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs highlighting the number of airstrikes on medical facilities across Syria, including 36 attacks targeting hospitals, health facilities, and aid convoys in May and June. In addition, in the Whole of Syria (WoS) June report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 13 airstrikes on health facilities in Idlib since April 1. To avoid airstrikes, medical facilities in Syria are increasingly located underground, and many organizations are no longer posting international organization insignia on facilities.
• The OCHA-led Kobane Working Group—comprising humanitarian and de-mining nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—released its initial assessment of the conditions in Aleppo Governorate’s city of Kobane on May 6, following the February retreat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the city. The group reported that fighting had destroyed nearly 50 percent of the city’s buildings and infrastructure and 80 percent of agricultural resources. Of the estimated 192,000 people who fled to Turkey during the fighting, approximately 62,500 people have returned to Kobane and neighboring areas, despite the extensive presence of unexploded ordnance and landmines in both rural and urban settings. Humanitarian organizations continue preparedness and response efforts to safely address identified needs, as security allows.
Ongoing USG Humanitarian Assistance Syria - Complex Emergency (as of 25 June 2015)