On Friday, July 7th, the United Nations Security Council will vote on renewing the cross-border aid mechanism in Syria before its expiration on July 10th.
This mechanism allows humanitarian aid to be delivered from Turkey to Syrian territories through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, without the need for prior approval from the Syrian government.
Experts say that it is crucial to extend the cross-border aid mechanism at Bab al-Hawa for another 12 months, and it is expected that the resolution to renew it will be passed at the upcoming Security Council session.
However, extending the Bab al-Hawa agreement alone is not enough to improve the living conditions of millions of displaced people in Syria. The funding gap for humanitarian aid in Syria remains significant, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that only 12% of the required funding has been received to date.
The funding gap was also cited by the World Food Programme, which announced in mid-June that it would not be able to meet at least 40% of the food support needs for Syria in July 2023 due to a funding shortfall of $200 million.
The UN cross-border aid mechanism in Syria provides life-saving assistance to around 4.1 million people in Syria, with 80% of them being women and children. Reports from UN officials also indicate that from January 2022 to April 2023, the UN carried out 495 humanitarian aid operations and food deliveries in 14 Syrian provinces, at an estimated cost of $460 million to donor countries.
