YARMOUK SITUATION UPDATE 24
10 May 2015 Issue No. 25
UNRWA resumed humanitarian operations in Yalda, Babila and Beit Saham today, following a one week break due to security concerns. The UNRWA team provided essential health services, dental services, vaccinations, nutritional supplements and fresh food sufficient to feed 600 civilians for one week. The UNRWA Director of Health, Akihiro Seita, participated in the mission, meeting with civilians displaced by armed violence. Humanitarian activities continue in Tadamoun, to the north-east.
SITUATION REPORT
- UNRWA continued humanitarian assistance to civilians displaced from Yarmouk today, providing fresh and dry food to a central community kitchen (sufficient for 600 individuals for one week) and 1,200 packets of bread.
- Civilians displaced from Yarmouk wait to receive a hot meal in a collective shelter in Yalda, 9 May, 2015 ©UNRWA
- UNRWA medical personnel established a mobile health point, treating 465 patients over the course of the day. Five cases of hepatitis A were detected and treated. 14 children were administered with vaccines, while 5 out of 97 children under five years old were found to be moderately malnourished. One child was acutely malnourished.
- UNICEF and WFP made generous and important contributions to today’s operation, providing a range of nutritional supplements, food and medicines. UNRWA pays tribute to the speed and generosity with which these agencies have responded to the Yarmouk crisis, particularly in supporting the needs of displaced and vulnerable children.
- UNRWA also established a mobile dental unit today, only the second time this service has been available in the area for over two years. The UNRWA dentist treated 57 patients, including surgical procedures.
- Those receiving assistance are comprised of Palestinian and Syrian families displaced or affected by conflict, plus host communities. UNRWA missions deliver a broad range of critical humanitarian materials to each of these families, including food, medical supplies, water purification treatments, mattresses, blankets, family kitchen sets and hygiene kits.
- UNRWA continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the civilians from Yarmouk who remain displaced in Tadamoun, an area on the north-eastern periphery. The Agency is also providing daily hot lunches for all civilians, complemented by regular distribution of canned food.
- These ongoing operations represent a sustained demonstration of the commitment of the UN, both UNRWA and partners, to providing essential assistance to all civilians affected by the crisis in Yarmouk. UNRWA’s priority remains the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians within Yarmouk itself and reiterates its strong demand for respect and compliance with obligations to protect civilians and to establish secure conditions under which the Agency can deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance.
- The vulnerability of civilians in Yarmouk remains of the highest severity. UNRWA is deeply concerned that without access, the most basic humanitarian needs of up to 18,000 Palestinian and Syrian civilians, including 3,500 children, continue to be left unmet.
UNRWA PREPAREDNESS
- UNRWA mobilized its emergency response team on April 1st to develop a range of response scenarios, including large displacements to areas where UNRWA does not currently have access.
- UNRWA works closely with partners and UN Agencies to mobilize resources for a large-scale humanitarian response to support the civilians of Yarmouk.
- UNRWA has prepositioned stocks of food, mattresses, blankets, and hygiene kits to respond in the case of further displacement from Yarmouk.
CALL FOR SUPPORT
- As violence continues to profoundly threaten the lives and safety of Palestine refugees throughout Syria, UNRWA appeals for donors to increase their support to the Agency’s urgent Call for Funds, seeking an immediate injection of $30 million. The UNRWA Syria Crisis Appeal has received only 20% of the funds needed for 2015.
- The capacity of the Agency to sustain life-saving emergency interventions, whilst responding immediately to urgent developments such as the one impacting Yarmouk since April 1st, is undermined by chronic underfunding for humanitarian interventions inside Syria.
- More than 95% of Palestine refugees now rely on UNRWA to meet their daily needs of food, water and healthcare.
- Priority interventions include cash assistance which enables UNRWA to access up to 470,000 Palestine refugees in need, including up to 39,500 currently living in hard to reach areas. This intervention will run out of funding after the distribution of second round of cash assistance in June.
- Additional funding is also required for critical non-food items including blankets, mattresses and hygiene kits for displaced Palestine refugee families throughout Syria.
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Document symbol: YarmoukSitRpt_Issue25
Document Type: Situation Report, Update
Document Sources: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Country: Syria
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Children, Health, Humanitarian relief, Living conditions, Middle East situation, Protection, Refugee camps, Refugees and displaced persons, Security issues
Publication Date: 11/05/2015
Document Type: Situation Report, Update
Document Sources: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Country: Syria
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Children, Health, Humanitarian relief, Living conditions, Middle East situation, Protection, Refugee camps, Refugees and displaced persons, Security issues
Publication Date: 11/05/2015