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Syria: UN Representative on the situation in the country – Virtual Press Conference | United Nations
Summary
1438seconds video
Adam Abdelmoula, the UN Resident Coordinator for Syria, addressed the humanitarian challenges that Syria faces as the country stands at a critical turning point. After 14 years of conflict, 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance, making it one of the biggest crises globally. Despite recent progress, hostilities, economic issues, and underfunding still threaten aid efforts. Since December 2024, 1.2 million people have returned to their origins, but security and service challenges remain for many, especially in the northwest.
The UN projects that up to 3.5 million refugees and displaced persons could return this year, necessitating urgent investment in reintegration. Ongoing violence in regions like the north and coast disrupts aid and endangers lives. The economic situation remains dire, with shortages and funding freezes complicating aid delivery.
A comprehensive humanitarian response is underway, including the first countrywide needs assessment to guide priorities. Access to formerly frontline areas has improved, and the UN is restructuring operations for better coordination. However, the humanitarian response plan is underfunded, with significant financial shortfalls threatening aid.
For long-term stability, the UN has developed a Transitional Action Plan to support poverty reduction, institutional strengthening, and economic recovery. Abdelmoula called for more international support and eased sanctions to aid Syria’s path to a stable future. Despite positive developments, challenges remain, particularly regarding safe return conditions, coordination efforts with local administrations, and the impact of funding cuts on aid delivery.
Full Script
So I would like to welcome Adam Abdelmoula, the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Syria, and he is speaking to us by video teleconference from Damascus. It’s great. We can see you on the screen. Well, welcome, Mr. Abdelmoula. The floor is yours. Thank you for having me. And good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to brief today. As you all know, Syria stands at a critical turning point with the new era that began on December 8, 2014. It’ll be clear. You’re good to go. All right. Again, Syria stands at a critical turning point with the new era that began on the 8th of December, bringing hope, peace, and stability. However, 14 years of conflict have left 16.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Making Syria one of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. We see here widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure, and essential services. Landmines and explosive remnants of war pose an everyday threat, having caused over 600 casualties since December. Nearly a third of whom were children. While progress is being made, ongoing hostilities, economic hardships, and underfunding threaten both humanitarian operations and recovery efforts. Since December 2024, 1.2 million people have returned to their areas of origin, including 885,000 internally displaced persons and 302,000 refugees. However, only 100,000 of the 2 million IDPs in northwest Syria have returned, and that is largely due to lack of basic services, security risks, and missing legal documents. UNHCR projects that up to 3.5 million refugees and IDPs might return this year, and that underscores the need for urgent investments in recovery and reintegration support. Active hostilities continue in the north, south, and some pockets in the coastal area, displacing thousands and hindering aid access. The recent coastal violence in the coastal areas alone has reportedly killed and injured hundreds and caused widespread destruction, including two health facilities. To prevent further suffering, all parties must commit to de-escalation and abide by international humanitarian law. Hostilities must cease, and all actors must ensure the protection of civilians. Immediate unimpeded humanitarian access is crucial for aid delivery. People seeking safety must be granted safe passage and right to return when the conditions allow. Economic conditions are there, very there, with severe liquidity shortages, limited electricity, and rising prices, all limiting aid delivery and access to basic services. The U.S. freeze of funding for humanitarian activities in January 2025 has severely impacted operations, especially in northeast Syria, particularly in informal settlements and IDPs, leading to significant coordination and information gaps. Now in our efforts to adapt to the humanitarian response, the humanitarian actors are scaling up efforts to meet urgent needs. Aid million people will receive humanitarian aid through June 2025. The first ever countrywide rapid needs assessment covering 2,600 communities and CAMHS will provide data-driven priorities for our response. Access has improved in former frontline areas like rural Idlib, rural Latakia, and eastern Aleppo, with over 678 trucks crossing from Turkey this year, a seven-fold increase from 2024. Meanwhile, the UN is restructuring its operations to enhance coordination. By mid-2025, a unified Damascus-based coordination mechanism will replace the whole of Syria model, ensuring a more streamlined effective response. The 2024 humanitarian response plan remains severely underfunded. In 2024, we received only 35.6 percent of the 4.1 billion we appealed for. The January to March 2025 response plan is just 11.7 percent funded. That leaves almost 90 percent of the needs unmet. From January to June this year, $2 billion are urgently needed to support 8 million people, including 5.4 million people with food assistance, 5.5 million people with health care, 5.1 million people with clean water and sanitation. Alarmingly, however, only 10 percent of the required funds have been secured, and that is severely straining critical humanitarian services. Beyond immediate relief, this long-term stability requires accountable governments, economic revitalization, and inclusive recovery efforts. So we developed the UN’s Transitional Action Plan, the TAP, which provides a strategic framework to reduce poverty and inequality, support refugees and IDP reintegration, strengths and institutions, governments and the rule of law, implement security sector and judicial reforms, and drive economic development and market recovery. The past forward for Syria would entail that we capitalize on the current positive atmosphere and the generosity of the international community as evidenced by this past week’s donor conference in Brussels. We should seek to increase in the funding for the humanitarian and recovery programs, easing of the sanctions to improve economic prospects and market access, supporting locally driven and locally owned inclusive recovery efforts, and fostering transparent governance and accountability. The UN and its partners remain committed to supporting Syria in shaping a stable, just and prosperous future. However, this requires the international community’s support and action right away. The cost of inaction as emergency relief coordinator has told the gathering in Brussels this week is much more expensive than responding to the immediate and medium term needs of the Syrian people. Thank you. Over to you. Thank you very much, Mr. Abdulmullah. I’ll now turn the floor over to reporters for their questions. First question goes to Abdulhamid Sayam. Thank you, Mr. Abdulmullah. This is Abdulhamid Sayam from the Arabic Daily Al-Qudsal, Arabic. I have a few questions regarding the situation in Syria if you can elaborate on the situation in the coastal area and if you had a firsthand visit to the region and if you can tell us what happened exactly and if there is now things are calm and under control. And also if you can tell us what’s going on in Sweden, is it accessible to the UN staff to see and go and try to assist the people there? And last, have you seen any displacement of Syrians from the area that Israel occupied on the border with the Indigolan Heights and the Jabal-e-Sheikh? So if you can give us more information about that. Thank you so much. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Abdulhamid. With regard to the situation in the coastal area, I just returned from Brussels yesterday and submitted a request to the government to pay a visit to the coastal areas. I’m waiting this weekend. So I’m waiting as we speak to hear back from the government. As you know, movement of the humanitarian personnel around the country depends on receiving approval from the government. Typically, this is routine, so I’m hopeful that I will be able to go to the coastal area as soon as possible. However, colleagues from different agencies have visited the coastal area, including the head of WFP, as well as colleagues from the Department of Safety and Security. And we are in constant touch also with our teams on the ground in both Latakia and Tartus on daily basis since the start of the events of the six of this month. So we have managed also to relocate our staff and their dependents into two locations, one in Tartus and one in Sweden, and the humanitarian actors on the ground continue to deliver humanitarian support to those who need it. With regard to the situation in Sweden, there was an announcement earlier in the months that some kind of an agreement was reached between the caretaker authorities and the local leaders in Sweden. There are some conflicting reports about that, but overall the situation remains calm. Other than what you see in the news media about the Israeli incursions in the south, limiting the ability of the humanitarian actors on the ground to move around and deliver humanitarian assistance, the overall situation remains calm, if you – with the exception of the Israeli incursions. As to the displacement of Syrians from areas occupied by the Israeli forces, we haven’t seen any massive displacement there. If there is displacement, so far it is limited in numbers. But it hasn’t been a top concern. The major concern that the humanitarian have with regard to the Israeli incursions is that it is limiting our ability to access people who need humanitarian assistance. Thank you. Josie? Thanks very much. I wanted to ask you about the status of women in Syria under the new transitional government. What do you see in terms of improvement or setbacks? Thank you. Well, there are a lot of improvements in terms of – to access all parts of Syria, more or less. And that was in the case in the past as we operated in three different haps with different ground rules and so on. So that disjointedness is now gone and the humanitarian community operates in unison. And that’s a very, very positive development. There are issues and challenges relating to the transition itself. As you all know, this is a government that is less than three months old. And it is a pre-transition with anticipated formation of an interim government that is ahead. So some of those related to the limited capacity that the caretaker government has and some of them relate to the fact that new rules and regulations are being adopted. And so everyone has to adjust to the new rules and regulations, and that at times creates some delays and we are dealing with those through direct discussions with the caretaker authorities. But overall, this is a much more improved humanitarian environment than the one we had prior to December 8th. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, what is the level of coordination with the Kurdish administration when it comes to delivering AIDS to civilians or the camps there? And the second, do you have any information about Northwest Syria, especially about Afrin city? As we know, that was a big displacement a couple of years ago, and I heard some Kurdish families are trying to turn back to their home in Afrin city, which is in Northwest. And I wonder if you have any information about that situation, how easy for them to go back. Is it safe? Thank you very much. We are coordinating with all the parties on the ground in Northeast Syria. The head of the Ocha country office was there, and he met with everyone, including with General Muslim and all the other actors on the ground. For the first time, the UN is now in full leadership position of the coordination in the entire Northeast Syria. The disjointedness that existed in the past where the coordination was mostly done by the Northeast Syria NGO forum is over. Now the deputy head of the Ocha country office is in Northeast Syria. He is best there, and he is the one leading the overall coordination with all the parties on the ground. With regard to the situation in Afrin, I have asked our team in Aleppo that covers that area to conduct a quick assessment, because that area is still witnessing some military activities and some fighting. We know that there is a huge pool of displaced people who sought refuge in Northeast Syria, who want to return to the Afrin area. But we need to conduct an assessment and see if conditions are conducive enough for the safe and dignified return of the IDPs. And then Dossi. What is the biggest challenge for the Ocha team to deliver aid in Northeast Syria? Thank you. Can you repeat that question again? The biggest challenge for the Ocha team in Northeast Syria? Did you get the question? I wonder if you, according to your knowledge, what is the biggest challenge for you, I mean, deliver the humanitarian aid to the Northeast Syria? In Northeast Syria, the biggest challenge we have is the funding challenge. As you know, in the past there were 42 NGOs, mostly international NGOs. Out of the 42, 39 were international NGOs that were doing the heavy lifting of humanitarian assistance in Northeast Syria. After the U.S. froze funding, USAID funding, immediately 26 of them went out of business immediately. And since then, the number has been increasing. So the UN has to step in and fill that void. I released $7 million from the Syria humanitarian fund in a modest attempt to address some of the most urgent needs. But that’s nowhere near what is needed to sustain the level of humanitarian support that was provided in the past. So the biggest challenge facing Northeast Syria is the funding problem. Josie? Just to follow up, you said that there are new rules and regulations. How do they pertain to women’s rights? Thanks. I didn’t get the first part of the question. I got the last part on women’s rights. There are new rules and regulations, how are they being applied to women’s rights? Which rules and regulations? Regulations if I heard you correctly. So I’m wondering how they’re being applied to women. Thank you. Well, I’m not aware of any new rules and regulations that discriminate against women. We just saw that the caretaker government adopted a new constitutional declaration that affirmed the equality of all the Syrian citizens and prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and so on. So far we haven’t seen anything that is of concern to us with regard to women’s rights. But of course gender is an issue that we take very, very seriously in everything that we do and we always keep a watchful eye to that area of human rights. Thank you again. I have a question about the crossing points. Before December 8, there were only two crossing points between Turkey and Israel, sorry, and Syria, the crossing border with Jordan was closed and that with Iraq. Now how do you – can you give us some detailed information about all the crossing? Are they all open now? You can bring humanitarian aid from Jordan, from Iraq, from all parts of Turkey to Syria. Thank you. Yeah, prior to December 8, there were three crossings with Turkey. Those are Bab Al-Hawaa, Al-Ra’i, and Bab Al-Salamah. And they have just been renewed for UN humanitarian operations by the Karatek government. With Jordan, there is no problem prior to or after the 8th of December. As a matter of fact, starting next week, the border crossings between Syria and Jordan are going to be open 24 hours a day. So that’s a very positive thing. In the northeast Syria, the humanitarian continue to move supplies from the Iraqi side of the border. WAP has a small hub, I think, in the hook. And we are planning to expand the use of that hub to support the humanitarian efforts in northeast Syria. I am not aware of any humanitarian supplies being moved from Iraq into Syria. And so that border crossing in Al-Qaim hasn’t been one of the major supply routes that the humanitarian community has used in the past decade. I think that has done it for questions here. So I would like once more to thank our guest, Adam Abdulmullah, the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Syria. It’s always a pleasure to see you and I hope you have a good day. Have a good afternoon, everyone. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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