HIGHLIGHTS
UNRWA's last successful distribution mission to Yarmouk was on 6 December. Since then, distribution has been prevented due to a serious escalation in armed conflict, including heavy exchanges of fire and the use of heavy weapons. The deterioration of security in Yarmouk mirrors an intensification of fighting across Syria. In all December only 636 food parcels were distributed, a fraction of the 400 required daily to sustain the 18,000 civilians still trapped in Yarmouk. UNRWA monitors the security situation in Yarmouk closely, stands ready to resume distribution and continually requests relevant authorities to facilitate humanitarian assistance. To keep up to date with the situation in Yarmouk, please click here.
At the top of this update is a photo from Yarmouk that won the UNRWA/EU photograph competition. The winning photographer, 23 year old Niraz Saied from Yarmouk, captured the anguish of three siblings waiting for a medical evacuation. In his words: “You can’t find a complete family in the refugee camp. I used to feel that in every portrait of a Palestinian family you could see the shadow of a person missing." The theme "I Am Not a Statistic", called on participants to capture the stories and emotions behind news headlines, making personal the numbers of Palestinians killed, wounded and displaced by conflicts throughout the region.
The 2015 UNRWA appeal for the Syria regional crisis was published on 18 December. In it, UNRWA estimates that in 2015, 95 per cent of the 480,000 Palestine refugees remaining in Syria are in continuous need of humanitarian aid. "In the midst of the countless human tragedies unfolding in the country, the plight of the Palestine refugee community must not be underestimated or forgotten,” said UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General, Margot Ellis. “There is no substitute to a political solution to the conflict, not only in Syria, but also for Palestine itself. But until that day comes, we need to make sure no Palestine refugee feels left behind or forgotten.” The appeal outlines the need for $415.4 million to meet the minimum needs of Palestine refugees suffering profound hardship as a result of the conflict in Syria, in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
At the end of the year, only 53 per cent of UNRWA's 2014 appeal was funded and UNRWA had to reduce individual assistance to continue serving all those in need. If funding levels continue to decline, critical efforts in emergency education and health care will cease, and cash assistance – the central pillar of UNRWA's humanitarian response – will be threatened. Decades of development gains made possible by the international community are in danger of being lost. A report on the 2014 response will be published in April.