United Nations: Türkiye / Syria, Ukraine, Somalia & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (28 February 2023)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
- Deputy Secretary-General/Travels
- Middle East
- Syria
- Türkiye/Syria
- Ukraine
- Nigeria
- Somalia
- Horn of Africa
- Iraq
TÜRKIYE/SYRIA
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that 33 trucks from the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) crossed into north-west Syria. Those include 22 trucks through Bab Al-Hawa, five through Bab Al-Salam and six through Al-Ra’ee.
OCHA said that shelter, winterization, and multi-purpose cash support remain a priority. Many donors have already generously supported the response efforts, but there is a need to scale it up even further.
The $400 million Syria appeal is 42 now per cent funded ($167.8 million), and the $1 billion Türkiye appeal is 7.4 per cent funded ($74.3 million).
And this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered medical X-ray machines to Türkiye in response to the earthquakes. The delivery is the first of a planned series of emergency assistance packages.
UKRAINE
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that it is concerned about civilians who remain in Bakhmut city in the eastern Donetsk region. UN local partners noted that about 4,000 civilians, compared with the pre-war population of 73,000 residents, remain in the city, most of them taking cover in basements and shelters.
With the tense security situation, very few humanitarian and volunteer organizations remain in the area, and most people in the city therefore rely mainly on the remaining humanitarian supplies from previous distributions. Centralized water, electricity and heating supplies in Bakhmut are reportedly interrupted due to the damage to the civilian infrastructure.
OCHA underscores that civilians must be
protected, including having the possibility to safely leave the area of hostilities in the direction of their choice.
Also on the Donetsk region, over the last days, several civilians, including children, were killed or injured on both sides of the front line. That is according to information received from the Ukrainian Government and the authorities in the non-Governmental controlled areas. Education and health facilities were also reportedly damaged on both sides of the front line.
This month, humanitarians sent six inter-agency convoys to the Donetsk region with food, water, winter and shelter materials to support some 77,000 people.
SOMALIA
Results from the latest multi-partner Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Somalia show a slight improvement from previous projections, but an estimated five million people are nevertheless experiencing crisis or worse outcomes between January and March. This includes 96,000 people facing catastrophic hunger.
It is estimated that approximately 1.8 million children will be acutely malnourished in 2023, including almost 478,000 children who are likely to be severely malnourished.
Meanwhile, the number of people reached with food assistance went from an average of two million people per month between January and March 2022 to an average of 5.4 million people per month between October and December 2022.
However, partners caution that the underlying crisis has not improved and even more appalling outcomes have only temporarily been averted. Moreover, 6.5 million people are expected to face crisis or worse food insecurity outcomes from April to June.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia seeks over $2.6 billion to meet priority needs of 7.6 million vulnerable people. Additional funds are urgently required to sustain the response beyond March.