Highlights
• The humanitarian situation in Syria has deteriorated in October with the intensification of violence in Aleppo, Idleb, Rural Damascus, Homs and Deir ez Zor. Children continue to pay the heaviest price of the ongoing conflict, as civilian infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and water supply stations continue to be hit and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable populations is daily challenged by volatile conditions on the ground.
• In Syria, UNICEF reached about 175,072 people in 49 hard to reach locations with life-saving interventions and critical services and delivered supplies for 177,200 beneficiaries in 15 besieged areas.
• Across the Syria crisis countries in 2016, UNICEF and partners have reached over 21 million children under the age of 5 with polio vaccinations and over 1.3 million with a hygiene promotion session and/or hygiene kits. Additionally, UNICEF supported 680,732 children to access formal education in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon,
Turkey and Egypt. In Syria, 2.9 children (5-17 years) were supported in formal education through distribution of supplies/textbooks.
• Since the beginning of the year, over 800,000 children and adults benefited from UNICEF-structured and sustained child protection and psychosocial support programmes across Syria and countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region.
• US$40.2 million of funding is urgently needed (US$82.5 million appeal) to help UNICEF and partners provide essential clothing and winterization supplies for the cold season for children inside Syria and those who have taken refuge in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan Iraq and Egypt. In many countries where the market allows for it, this support will be provided in the form of unconditional cash assistance and/or vouchers.