Syria - IOM is part of an inter-agency plan to relieve three besieged Syrian towns – Madaya, Kafraya and Foua - and has contributed 1,200 family hygiene kits to the operation.

Today (12/1) the kits are being loaded into Syria Arab Red Crescent trucks as part of an inter-agency convoy to the besieged areas of Madaya in Rural Damascus, and Kafraya and Foua in Idleb. 

Syrian Arab Crescent, ICRC, UN and IOM assistance to the three towns began yesterday (11/1) and will continue through Thursday.

Some 6,000 people are expected to benefit from IOM’s contribution. Some 800 kits will go to help 4,000 people in Madaya, and 400 kits will go to help 2,000 people in Kafraya and Foua.

IOM operations in Syria in 2016 will include resilience-building in areas including non-food relief items (NFIs) and Shelter, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health, support to livelihoods, protection and education.

Since 2011, IOM Syria has assisted over 3.7 million people – 45 per cent of them in cross line and hard to reach/besieged areas. It aims to scale up its operations in 2016 to meet growing the needs of war-affected and displaced Syrian communities.

For further information, please contact IOM Syria. Maria Rumman, Tel: +963.9333.11204 or +962.7999.46195, Email: mrumman@iom.int. Or Firas Hamarneh, Tel: +963.9333.11202, Email: fhamarneh@iom.int