HIGHLIGHTS

• Mounting concerns that public health crisis may aggravate Syria humanitarian situation. 420,000 Palestine refugees unable to meet basic needs.
• UN inter-agency cross-line assistance to almost 1 million Syrians despite security and access challenges.
• Syrian refugee population up by nearly 1 million people since January.

Movement by internally displaced persons continues to be large-scale and fluid, as many Syrians are displaced multiple times. The estimated number of IDPs now stands at 4.25 million.

Situation Overview

1. Consolidated and Flash appeals in the MENA region received US$ 674 million. The largest recipient was Syria, with US$339 million, followed by Yemen with US$196 million. In total, the appeals are 31.4% funded with a sho rtfall of 68.6%.

HIGHLIGHTS

• A 7.8 earthquake hit South-Eastern Iran on 16 April, close to the border with Pakistan. The impact was felt in both countries, with 14 people killed, 73 injured and two missing.

• New and worsening humanitarian crises since 2011 have led to a considerable increase in CERF allocations to the MENA region. The largest recipients have been Pakistan, Syria and Yemen.

Lack of safe water and accumulation of solid waste in areas affected by the violence and areas of large IDP concentrations have raised considerable public health risks.

Videos:

• Valerie Amos (OCHA) on the humanitarian crisis in Syria - Security Council, 6949th meeting

• Valerie Amos (OCHA) on Syria - Security Council Media Stakeout (18 April 2013)

(New York, 17 April 2013): UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos expressed her condolences today over the killing of another staff member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in the northern city of Aleppo.

Mr. Yousef Lattouf is the eighteenth SARC staff member to die in the conflict in Syria.

Mr. Lattouf, a father of five, was guarding a SARC warehouse in the opposition-held area of Mashahad on 14 April when the warehouse was hit by a mortar. A second SARC volunteer was injured in the attack.

Highlights

UN inter-agency mission delivers vaccines for 500,000 children in Aleppo.

2 million Syrians received food assistance in March, including about 500,000 people in opposition-held areas.

7,000 Syrian refugees register per day; overall figure reaches nearly 1.3 million.

Needs continue to outpace funding as critical sectors remain severely underfunded.