The United Nations revealed on Thursday that 16.7 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, a record number since the start of the war against Syria 13 years ago. 

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, briefed member nations in the UN Security Council and said Syria is facing challenges related to national security, humanitarian conditions, human rights, and politics, noting that all developments are "going in the wrong direction." 

"We urge donors, both traditional and non-traditional, to give generously to the humanitarian response, including for early recovery," he said.

Moreover, according to Pederson, at least half of Syria's pre-war population has been displaced, with large numbers being unable to return to their towns and villages due to lacking security and quality of life. 

500,000 Syrian children need acute malnutrition treatment

In this context, almost 7 million people have been displaced within Syria, while 13 million others are in need of food assistance, Joyce Msuya, the UN Deputy Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, said. 

She added that over half a million Syrian children need life-saving acute malnutrition treatment, as the condition has tripled among children under the age of five over the past five years. 

This comes amid record lows in funding, as the crisis and conflict are constantly shifting. Msuya urged for increased support for humanitarian aid and sustained and continuous humanitarian access across all corridors. 

"And we urgently need the necessary funding to sustain life-saving assistance and expand early recovery," she added.

"Syria has faced an unjust war, during which well-known countries employed the weapon of terrorism against the Syrian people, recruited tens of thousands of foreign terrorists, and provided them with various kinds of support and weapons, including internationally prohibited ones, to serve their hostile agendas," Syria's foreign minister Faisal Mekdad said earlier in 2023. 

Those countries' policies have let terrorist organizations such as ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra own chemical weapons and use them against the Syrians, which shows the need to deal with the shortcomings in international instruments and joint action away from politicization and misinformation, he noted, adding that this will find a mechanism to coordinate international efforts to confront acts of chemical terrorism.

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