Over 1 million people reliant on Bab Al-Hawa border crossing for humanitarian assistance risk losing life-saving healthcare without UN Security Council reauthorisation
98% of the women and almost 90% of the men interviewed by the IRC reported struggling to find medicines as a key barrier when they tried accessing basic health services
The UN-led cross-border aid mechanism must be reauthorised for at least 12 months to avoid an increase in preventable deaths
New York, USA, 6 July 2022 — On 10 July, the UN-led cross-border mechanism in northwestern Syria is set to expire unless the UN Security Council urgently re-authorises the resolution this week. Failure to renew the mechanism will have a devastating impact on millions of Syrians currently reliant on cross-border assistance to access critical health services, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned.
In 2021, 1.3 million people received life-saving health assistance through the Bab-Al Hawa crossing, the last remaining cross-border channel which is at risk of being shuttered. Almost 60% of outpatient consultations across the country rely on assistance provided cross-border. In the northwest of the country, the area most reliant on cross-border aid, more than 3.1 million people currently require humanitarian support to access basic health services.
New IRC data recently collected from communities in northwestern Syria between March and April drives home just how reliant people are in the region on humanitarian assistance to receive health support. 98% of the women interviewed, and almost 90% of the men, reported struggling to find medicines as a key barrier when they tried accessing basic health services. This represents a 50% and 30% increase respectively since the same period last year.
For the 63 hospitals, 170 primary health centers, 42 specialised care centres and 45 mobile clinics currently providing health services across the northwest of Syria, the UN’s cross-border mechanism is quite simply a life-line - if not reauthorised, humanitarian INGOs like the IRC will be unable to fill the gaps in medical stocks and services.
One of IRC’s clients, a 42-year-old displaced Syrian, in northwest Syria told us:
“Just talking about the ending of humanitarian aid makes me feel anxious. My worries increase and I begin to imagine myself in the street and not getting my medicine. My family would have to resort to begging so we can afford to buy them privately. I hope that they [the UN Security Council] will continue to allow the passage of humanitarian aid into Syria and that it will not stop. We count on them to continue this support and to save us from a possible disaster.”
David Miliband, IRC President and CEO said:
“The IRC’s teams and our health partners are working tirelessly in northern Syria to ensure essential medical services and supplies reach those who need them the most. The impact of eleven years of conflict has left Syria’s health system struggling to cope. Across the country Syrian communities are now without sufficient functional health facilities, essential medical supplies, or qualified personnel. When cross-border access was cut off to northeast Syria in January 2020, the negative impact on people’s daily lives was immediate. Millions now stand to lose access to healthcare when they need it most.
"For Syrians living in the northwest of the country, failing to reauthorise the only remaining border crossing could represent the biggest attack on healthcare since the humanitarian crisis began. That is why IRC is unequivocal in our call for the UN Security Council to put principles above politics. The UN’s cross-border mechanism must be reauthorised for 12 months to ensure more lives are not needlessly lost.”