syria-un-20161223-1 4

United Nations Nations Unies Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 4 The United Nations and its partners mobilised a comprehensive response to make sure evacuees have the basic essentials. Over 30 partner NGO organizations are on the ground in Idlib. Evacuees at reception centres are provided basic services to meet immediate needs, including food, winterized shelter and non-food items, as well as hygiene and sanitation products. Medical and psychosocial services are also available. Health partners are serving the reception centres and neighbouring villages through 22 mobile clinics. Specialised services for individuals with specific needs, including women and girls, as well as for separated or unaccompanied children are also available. Some 95 serious medical cases have been transferred to Turkey. The humanitarian teams on the ground will continue to scale up and respond as necessary to ensure urgent and life-saving needs are met. Mr. President, I would like to update and notify the Council of the arrangements undertaken pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 2328. While supporting the evacuation process was our immediate priority, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria has also submitted a formal written request to the Government of Syria seeking a blanket travel authorization to Aleppo for all UN senior staff in country, as well as humanitarian access to parts of Aleppo retaken by the government yesterday. There are currently 105 UN staff members in Aleppo. Of these, 34 were fully dedicated to monitoring evacuations from eastern Aleppo within the framework of resolution 2328 while the remaining staff have been carrying out humanitarian response throughout the city. As part of the ongoing surge support to Aleppo, the UN is requesting agreement from the government of Syria today to surge up to 100 additional staff, including up to 30 international staff to strengthen monitoring and response in eastern Aleppo. Mr. President, Under the auspices of resolution 2328, we are ready to implement a plan for all districts of eastern Aleppo in the coming days, as soon as we receive agreement from the Syrian Government to deploy. To date, the UN and partners have been able to access nearly all formerly besieged neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo except those retaken by the Government of Syria as of yesterday. A team of 16 UN staff along with four armoured vehicles are on standby to deploy to these last inaccessible areas as soon as government permission is granted. For all areas formerly besieged, in the first phase, assessments will be conducted of the number of civilians in these areas, their needs and the status of civilian infrastructure, including housing, food, medical care and other essential services. Medical teams are on standby to evacuate al