#PhotoFriday

26.08.2016 - This week's #PhotoFriday highlights the current situation for Syria’s children. 

A little girl stands outside her makeshift tent in Aleppo, Syria, where 2 million people face a potentially catastrophic situation. Photo: UNICEF Syria/Khuder Al-Issa

Photos of Syria’s children have touched the hearts of people across the world this week, drawing attention to the gravity of the ongoing violence in Syria. Briefing the Security Council on 22 August, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien warned of an “unparalleled humanitarian catastrophe” in Aleppo, reiterating the need for a 48-hour pause in fighting to allow safe and sustained aid access.

This week, a UN interagency convoy delivered humanitarian assistance to 35,000 people in Al Waer in the Homs area on 23 August. According to the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), it was the first such convoy to bring life-saving assistance to any besieged or hard-to-reach area in Syria this month. Meanwhile, the United Nations voiced strong concerns about the situation of some 40,000 people displaced by the fighting in the north-eastern city of Hasakeh. Since 18 August an additional 25,000 people have been displaced from Hasakeh to cities and villages north of the city following clashes between Government and Kurdish forces.