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.

The fact that more than 1.5 million people have registered or have appointments with UNHCR means the actual number is much higher. The increasingly widening gap between the needs and resources available is a growing challenge.

An additional €65 million will assist four million people who have been forced to flee their homes and in neighbouring countries that have generously welcomed some 1.4 million refugees.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Syria

This document provides an overview of developments in the Mediterranean Basin and other regions of interest from 16 – 29 April 2013, with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Med Basin Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

In Focus 1
North Africa 2
Northeast Africa 4
Horn of Africa 5

Aid agency calls for improved humanitarian access to Syria as needs escalate

Refugee numbers in neighboring countries steadily climb

The world risks failing the people of Syria as the scale of suffering increases and the humanitarian fall-out from the crisis worsens by the day, warned aid agency Oxfam today.

This overview provides an outline of the situation, facts about the affected population and the socio-economic impact of the crisis, as well as in-depth sectoral and operational analysis.