This came in the post-earthquake Syria needs assessment report, which was launched on Tuesday by the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Mustafa bin Al-Malih, which was carried out in cooperation between 11 United Nations agencies, funds and programs in Syria.
Bin Almaleh, stressed that although generous support was provided to the flash appeal in the aftermath of the earthquake, “these efforts will be in vain if they are not followed by recovery efforts.” He said the scale of damage, loss and recovery needs in the assessment is huge, but not surprising given the fragile state of infrastructure and services in areas already affected before the tremors. earthen.
He added: “Faced with a disaster of this magnitude, it was clear that these fragile and war-affected regimes would be severely affected, in other words, the lack of recovery before the earthquake made them more destructive, and also made them more deadly, as countless lives were needlessly lost because the regimes The Response could not work and of course the poorest and most vulnerable were disproportionately affected.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria went on to say that delaying recovery would dramatically increase the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the country and lead to loss of life, calling for earthquakes to be a reason to strengthen the determination to expand the scope of strategic and targeted early recovery interventions in the country, throughout the country, not only in the areas affected by the earthquake.
He stressed that it would be irresponsible to leave communities in other parts of the country such as northwestern and northeastern Syria, and in government-controlled areas, in this state of extreme vulnerability. , waiting for the next drought, the next fire, the next flood, and the next pandemic, to destroy what little flexibility they have.
Bin Al-Maleeh noted that while humanitarian partners are doing all they can to respond to the new wave of needs, solutions must go beyond the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan, which also remains severely underfunded “at an alarming rate, having received only 5.4% of the total needs.” The total amount requested.
He said the United Nations stands ready to support prioritization and planning processes to enable those who can participate beyond the scope of the response plan, to support the inclusive recovery of communities most in need in a way that complements and reinforces humanitarian efforts.
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