Damascus, 6th February 2019

The United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) are carrying out their largest ever humanitarian convoy to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to more than 40,000 displaced people at the remote Rukban ‘makeshift’ settlement in south-eastern Syria, on the border with Jordan. The convoy arrived today, and the operation is expected to last approximately one week.

The joint UN and SARC inter-agency convoy consists of 118 trucks with humanitarian assistance and will deliver food, health and nutritional supplies, core relief items, WASH materials, education items and children’s recreational kits to people at the site, the vast majority of whom are vulnerable women and children. Vaccines for some 10,000 children under five-years-of-age will also be part of the convoy as a well as a needs assessments will be carried out.

“This large-scale delivery of essential humanitarian supplies to the extremely vulnerable in Rukban could not have happened a moment too soon. The humanitarian situation there has been deteriorating due to harsh winter conditions and the lack of access to basic assistance and services. There have been reports of at least eight young children’s deaths in recent weeks”, said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i., Mr. Sajjad Malik.

The primary objective of the convoy is to provide critical humanitarian assistance to displaced people at the Rukban settlement. However, the UN also recognizes that a dignified solution, enabling people at the site to decide voluntarily and safely how to return to normal life in a place of their choosing is required. The UN and SARC will therefore also be carrying out an intention survey to consult with displaced people on their wishes and priorities to inform discussions on facilitating durable solutions.

“While this delivery of assistance will provide much-needed support to people at Rukban, it is only a temporary measure. A long-term, safe, voluntary and dignified solution for tens of thousands of people, many of whom have been staying at the Rukban settlement for more than two years in desperate conditions, is urgently needed,” stressed Mr. Malik.

The humanitarian supplies that will be provided during this convoy, were identified based on the findings of the needs assessment completed during the previous convoy in November 2018. The delivery and distribution of relief supplies is based on the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. The UN and SARC teams will be conducting close monitoring during and post-distributions to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in need.

The UN continues to urge all parties to allow safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need in Syria line with their obligations under International Humanitarian Law.

For more information, please contact:

Fadwa AbedRabou Baroud, Communication Specialist, office of the RC/HC, Damascus, Fadwa.baroud@one.un.org,

+963 996 666 134

Dr. Khaled Al Masri, Media Analyst, office of the RC/HC, Damascus, khalid.al-masri@one.un.org,

Tel: +963 991 206 555