Situation Highlights:

• An estimated 1.5 million people in Syria are in need of assistance (OCHA, July 2012)

• Currently, 120,588 Syrians are receiving assistance in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, over half of them children and adolescents. Of these, 114,894 have been registered as refugees (UNHCR, July 2012).

• Following the recent events of 18 July 2012 in Damascus, some 18,000 Syrians have crossed the border into Lebanon through the Massnaa point of entry, on the main road between Damascus and Beirut, in the Bekaa valley.

• Jordan has also seen an increased number of Syrians crossing the border, with over 10,000 Syrians arriving in Jordan (illegal entrants only) since the beginning of July (4,500 of them only in the past week).

• UNICEF Jordan and Lebanon are stepping up efforts to meet the heightened needs.

Programme Highlights (between the 20th and 23rd of July 2012):

• In the past three days and despite ongoing violence and insecurity, UNICEF was able to reach some 3,700 Syrian families (more than 22,000 persons) with critical humanitarian assistance through children’s food (biscuits, cheese and halaweh), hygiene and baby kits, and recreational kits.

• In response to the Jordanian Government’s request to the UN to accelerate work on the newly established tented site (Za'atari) in Jordan, UNICEF immediately responded by supporting the setting up of the camp’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure through providing 27 mobile toilets and 20 showers, which can serve up to 1,000 people. UNICEF emergency supplies to meet the initial needs of 25,000 people have also reached the Za'atari camp, including Child Friendly Space tents, school in a box, WASH kits, and other emergency items.