UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Published purpose

February 2014 - The humanitarian situation in Syria continues to deteriorate as a result of the civil war in the country. The United Nations estimates that more than 130,000 people have been killed, with hundreds of thousands more wounded, due to the violence. Within Syria, some 9.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 6.5 million of whom are internally displaced. In addition, over 2.4 million Syrian refugees are registered and living in host countries in the region. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the conflict and host countries are increasingly overstretched by the influx of affected people needing assistance. With the support of DFATD and other donors, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is providing core relief items to up to 3.5 million internally displaced and crisis-affected people in Syria, emergency shelter to up to 91,000 internally displaced people, and improve access to primary and secondary healthcare for up to 700,000 affected people. UNHCR is also trying to protect up to 489,000 persons with specific needs, particularly women and children.