Syria - On Sunday, 18 October, IOM Syria and IOM Turkey took part in an inter-agency operation that delivered much needed humanitarian supplies to 30,000 people in Syria’s Idleb and Rural Damascus governorates.

In partnership with the UN, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the delivery of critical humanitarian and medical supplies was carried out during a ceasefire brokered in Istanbul, Turkey, on 22 September, facilitated by the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria. 

IOM Syria delivered medical supplies and equipment to support the Az-Zabdani public primary health care centre in Rural Damascus governorate, which provides primary healthcare services, including maternal and child care, to conflict-affected families.

The items and kits included basic, standard surgical kits, an electrocardiogram (ECG) and an oxygen concentrator, together with other essential primary health care items.

IOM also delivered 15 wheelchairs for elderly and disabled people to the Sarghaya primary healthcare centre in Rural Damascus.

In a parallel effort, IOM Turkey distributed 1,500 hygiene kits and 1,250 tarpaulins in Foah and Kafraya in Idleb governorate.

On the same day, and in response to worsening humanitarian needs in Aleppo, IOM and SARC carried out a cross-line operation in the city to deliver medical supplies for people with disabilities and the elderly.  

So far this year, IOM has reached over 250,000 people living in hard to reach and besieged areas inside Syria through more than 50 missions organized by teams in Syria, Turkey and Jordan. IOM’s USD 246 million Syria crisis appeals are currently only 30 per cent funded.

For further information, please contact Geraldine Ansart, Syria Crisis Coordination, Tel.:+41 22 7179946 Email: gansart@iom.int