Cooperation with UN Humanitarian Organizations in Syria Necessary to Alleviate Crisis Repercussions

DAMASCUS, (ST) – Cooperation and Coordination with UN humanitarian organizations acting in Syria is very important, said Deputy Prime Minister for Services Affairs Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji, commending the relief services provided by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  to alleviate the suffering of terrorism-affected families.

Ghalawanji’s remarks came during his meeting on Monday with Director of the UNICEF’s Regional Office for the  Middle East and North Africa Maria Calivis and her accompanying delegation.

The Deputy PM said that within the coming few days, the ministry will sign an agreement with the organization on cooperation in the areas of drinking water and treatment of solid and liquid wastes in temporary housing centers, stressing that government services institutions in all targeted areas are to cooperate in this respect.

Calivic underlined the organization’s readiness to provide necessary assistance in accordance with an assessment made for the needs of each area, in order to improve the quality of drinking water, rehabilitate the network and provide technical support for services institutions and administrative units in all areas.

Earlier, Health Minister Sa’d al-Nayef discussed  with Calivic the role of international organizations in helping the Health Ministry provide its services to citizens in all Syrian cities.

Al-Nayef urged international organizations and commissions to shoulder their responsibilities towards rehabilitating the damaged health facilities and ensuring necessary medicine and vaccines, particularly because the health sector was badly affected by the unjust economic sanctions and siege imposed on Syria.

“The ministry cooperates with a number of international and local parties to guarantee the arrival of the medicaments and vaccines to different Syrian areas including those witnessing  events,” al-Nayef said.

He pointed out that 52 hospitals affiliated to the health ministry were damaged, 32 of them became completely out of work. He also referred to medicine factories losses and the damage caused to medicine, vaccines and medical equipment convoys.

He called for supplying the ministry with medical stuff that prevents children malnutrition and helps providing care to newly born children, stressing UNICEF’s role in this regard.

For her part, Calivic said “the Syrian health sector is still in a good situation despite the critical circumstances and challenges  it is facing,” affirming UNICEF’s readiness to cooperate with the ministry to provide necessary assistance to Syrian citizens particularly in terrorism-affected areas.

Education Minister Hazwan al-Waz also met with Calivic for talks on cooperation.

“Current cooperation between the Ministry and the organization is very important under the exceptional circumstances Syria is passing through,”  al-Waz said, stressing the necessity of rehabilitating the damaged schools and drawing up a plan to guarantee the return of students to their schools.

He called for holding training courses for the teaching and administrative staff on providing psychological and social support to the students.

The Minister pointed out that the estimated cost of the damage caused to the education sector is more than 59 billion Syrian Pounds as a result of destroying 2445 schools in different governorates in addition to the human losses.

Calivic asserted that the organization in cooperation with the education ministry is implementing programs aiming at guaranteeing the return of students to their schools, pointing out that the organization is now focusing on opening study clubs and providing psychological support to students.  

H. Mustafa