Al-Talahmeh to Minister Al-Mikdad: We are making great efforts to mobilize funding to help those affected by the earthquake

Dr. Faisal Al-Mikdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, this afternoon received Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Tariq Al-Talahmeh. And the accompanying delegation.

Al- Mikdad affirmed that the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic has been on alert since the first moments of the natural disaster, and took all emergency measures at the highest levels to identify the areas most affected by the earthquake in order to secure the urgent health and food aid to those affected so as to remove the rubble and recover the victims.

Al-Mikdad stressed that Syria will provide all support and facilities to deliver aid to all Syrian citizens throughout Syria, calling on the United Nations organizations to exert more efforts to respond urgently to the needs of those affected.

Minister Al-Mikdad added: Western countries’ politicization of humanitarian aid is unacceptable, pointing out that the negative effects of the inhumane unilateral economic sanctions make many countries hesitate to provide this assistance.

For his part, Al- Talahmeh expressed his deepest condolences over the earthquake victims, and conveyed the condolences of Martin Griffiths, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator. He also thanked the Syrian government for all the facilitations it provided to speed up the arrival of aid and relief teams to the affected areas.

Al-Talahmeh referred to the efforts made by the international side to mobilize the necessary funding and support to mitigate the effects of this earthquake.

NR