SITUATION OVERVIEW
An estimated 6.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. This includes at least 4.25 million internally displaced persons. People have increasingly limited access to basic services, including health care, water and sanitation. There is also a critical lack of supplies of life-saving medicines and medical equipment. Access to food and fuel is limited in many areas, and prices are prohibitive for many people.
It is estimated that more than 100,000 people have been killed since the onset of the crisis in March 2011, with an average of more than 5,000 killed per month since July 2012. More than one-third of the people of Syria urgently need humanitarian aid, but the crisis is affecting everyone with the depreciation of the currency and the destruction of essential infrastructure including health facilities. Power outages impact the provision of water. Lack of safe water and accumulation of garbage in areas affected by the violence significantly increase public health risks.
Inside Syria, protecting civilians is paramount. The rise in the level of sectarian and sexual violence and ongoing human rights abuses are major concerns.