UN humanitarian office underlines 'clear need' to invest in longer-term stabilization in Syria

The UN humanitarian office on Wednesday drew attention to a "clear need" to invest in longer-term stabilization in Syria.

"For humanitarian organizations working in Syria, the priority remains to address people's most critical needs-food and nutrition, shelter, health services, clean water and so on," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Anadolu.

"But there is a clear need to invest in longer-term stabilization in Syria, to rebuild essential services including access to electricity, and help ensure people have an income and the means to support themselves," Laerke continued.

Nothing that this might take time, he said that in the interim, it is important to support early recovery activities addressing critical humanitarian needs but also help lay the groundwork for more sustainable solutions such as repairing water supplies or investing in irrigation.

"This will also enable a more sustainable return of people to their homes," he said.

According to the spokesperson, OCHA will advocate for support to longer-term reconstruction which lies outside of the humanitarian mandate, but will be "vital" to reducing humanitarian needs in the future in a sustainable way.

Additionally, he stressed that for immediate humanitarian needs funding is an issue.

"Last year, we appealed for US$4.1 billion to support 10.8 million people but only one third of this has been received," he said. "Filling that gap is critical."