Energy News
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
WHO chief visits rebel-held Syria for first time after quake
WHO chief visits rebel-held Syria for first time after quake
By Omar Haj Kadour
Bab Al-Hawa, Syria (AFP) March 1, 2023

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday urged the international community to help earthquake-hit northwest Syria, on his first ever visit to rebel-held areas of the war-ravaged country.

"The people of northwest Syria need the assistance of the international community to recover and rebuild," Tedros told reporters after entering from neighbouring Turkey via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.

"I call on the international community, governments, philanthropists, individuals, to dig deep," added Tedros, the highest-ranking United Nations official to visit the rebel-held area since civil war broke out almost 12 years ago.

The WHO chief had already travelled to government-controlled Aleppo and Damascus the same week as the February 6 disaster that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

Tedros on Wednesday visited several hospitals and a shelter near the Turkish border for people displaced by the disaster, an AFP correspondent said.

Turkish-backed officials in Syria have put the death toll in rebel-held areas at 4,537, while the Syrian government has said 1,414 people were killed in areas under its control.

The UN has launched a $397 million appeal to help quake victims in Syria, but Tedros warned that "we are not getting as much as what is needed for this emergency".

- 'Needs increasing' -

"Even before the earthquake, needs were increasing while international aid was decreasing," Tedros said.

"We must not close our eyes or turn our backs on the Syrian people."

In the aftermath of the quake, activists and emergency teams in the rebel-held northwest had decried the UN's slow response, contrasting it with the planeloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered to government-controlled airports.

By noon Wednesday, at least 258 aircraft laden with aid had reached regime-controlled areas, 129 of them from the United Arab Emirates, transport ministry official Suleiman Khalil said.

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths had admitted on February 12 that the body had "so far failed the people in northwest Syria".

The United Nations says at least 420 trucks loaded with UN aid have now crossed into the rebel-held pocket since the tragedy.

The quake came nearly 12 years into Syria's civil war which devastated swathes of the country, killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions more.

More than four million people live in areas outside government control in Syria's north and northwest, 90 percent of whom depend on aid to survive.

- Crossings -

The first UN aid convoy crossed into the area on February 9 -- three days after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck -- and carried tents and other relief for 5,000. That convoy had been expected before the earthquake.

The UN largely delivers relief to Syria's northwest via neighbouring Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa crossing -- the only way for aid to enter without Damascus's permission.

The crossing is located in the Idlib region, which UN officials rarely visit and is controlled by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The WHO chief said on February 12 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had expressed openness to more border crossings for aid to be brought to quake victims in the rebel-held northwest.

On February 13, the United Nations said Damascus had allowed it to also use two other crossings in areas outside regime control -- Bab al-Salama and Al-Rai -- for three months.

An AFP correspondent said a new aid convoy entered via Bab al-Salama on Wednesday.

The first UN delegation to visit rebel-held northwestern Syria after the earthquake crossed from Turkey on February 14.

It comprised deputy regional humanitarian coordinator David Carden and Sanjana Quazi, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Turkey, and was largely an assessment mission.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
World not adequately prepared for disasters, report says
United Nations, United States (AFP) Feb 28, 2023
Earthquakes, floods, storms - the world is not adequately prepared to face increasing disasters, said a report published Tuesday calling for a rethink on global risk management. Since 1990, more than 10,700 disasters have affected over six billion people worldwide, according to data from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. In 2015, the international community adopted global goals to lower casualties and damage by the year 2030 by investing in risk evaluation and reduction, as ... read more

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Italy deficit balloons on green homes scheme

Massive power cut plunges Argentina into dark for hours

How Italy's generous green homes scheme turned 'wicked'

All who can should pay even for their basic greenhouse gas emissions

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China probes mining practices in 'lithium capital of Asia'

On the road to better solid-state batteries

Salt could play key role in energy transition

The race to develop the battery of the future

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Machine learning could help kites and gliders to harvest wind energy

Polish MPs vote to make building wind turbines easier

New research shows porpoises not harmed by offshore windfarms

UH professor developing new technologies to improve safety, resiliency of offshore energy systems

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Corralling ions improves viability of next generation solar cells

Renewables help offset rise in coal emissions, IEA says

New method creates material that could create the next generation of solar cells

Nanoparticles self-assemble to harvest solar energy

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Eleven EU states unite to strengthen nuclear power

Czechs plan small nuclear reactor in 2032 to boost energy supply

Using combustion to make better batteries

Preparing students for the new nuclear

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Cow manure fuels French tractors

How a record-breaking copper catalyst converts CO2 into liquid fuels

Biogas produced with waste from apple juice making can minimize use of fossil fuels in industry

Biorefinery uses microbial fuel cell to upcycle resistant plant waste

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
UAE's ADNOC Gas to raise $2.5bn in world-leading IPO

French court dismisses case against TotalEnergies E. Africa oil project

Curse or blessing? In Uganda, oil project gets mixed reviews

Canada oil-gas sector accused of thwarting climate efforts

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Climate trends in the west, today and 11,000 years ago

Jill Biden says Horn of Africa needs more drought relief

Horn of Africa on track for sixth failed rainy season: climate body

Lake Garda tourists flock to island reconnected by drought

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.