Syria: We want to help NGOs that are supporting people, says UN relief chief

Some families have sought refuge in reception centres set up by NGOs close to Aleppo. OCHA/Mohanad Zayat

Press encounter with Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths

Aleppo, Syria, 13 February 2023

Martin Griffiths: Behind us is just one small piece of the terrible tragedy that came here on the sixth of February. I have been hearing stories here in Aleppo this morning that chill you with what happened on those early hours of that terrible day. And what is the most striking here is even in Aleppo, which has suffered so much these many years, this moment, that moment a week or more ago, was about the worst that these people have experienced. People who lost their children, some of whom escaped, others stayed in the building. The trauma of the people we spoke to was visible, and this is a trauma which the world needs to heal. And the reason we’re here is because we want to raise money for the brave organizations which are helping these people of Aleppo, these people of Syria. I’ve come from Türkiye and seen devastating scenes. I had hoped that Aleppo, being further from the earthquakes, would have suffered less, but it hasn’t. Aleppo’s pain is visible to all. Thank you very much.

Question: Sir, Mr. Griffiths, you said that the UN has failed the people in Syria, especially in the northwest. What is your plan now?

Martin Griffiths: To provide assistance to people in the northwest and across Syria, and that’s what we’re doing, that’s what we’ve started. It’s mobilizing very fast. There are trucks moving, I was seeing there yesterday, from Türkiye into the northwest. We’ll have assistance moving from here into the northwest. But the northwest is only one part of Syria, as you know. And it’s also very important that we take care of the people here, and as well as in Türkiye. And we’re going to issue appeals for all these places, for mobilizing funds. What is extraordinary is that the international response to the earthquake, the search and rescue response, was unparalleled in history. I hope we’ll see the same for the humanitarian needs.

Question: What duration is expected for the response to such a humanitarian need?

Martin Griffiths: Sorry?

Question: What is the time, the duration needed for [the response]?

Martin Griffiths: For humanitarian need? Yeah, we’re looking at the first three months. So the appeals that will go out in the next day or so — one for Syria, one for Türkiye — will cover about three months of the humanitarian needs. Because what we’ve seen happening in these zones of the earthquake is that the rescue phase is dragging live people out from the rubble, and finding those who have died in the rubble, that’s coming to a close, and now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people, that’s our obligation now.

Question: And for northwestern Syria also?

Martin Griffiths: Also, yes, of course. Of course, of course, yeah. Wherever the need is. Thank you very much indeed, thank you very much.