On Monday, United Nations announced that the government of Syria approved a United Nations request for an aid delivery to Syrian towns of Madaya, Kefraya, and al-Foua. Also known as the 'in principle,' the request aims to provide humanitarian help to the besieged cities in Syria.
In Geneva, peace talks are getting under way to end the five-year-old Syrian war. However, opposition parties from Syria underlined that it will not cooperate in full discussions until all sieges are lifted, as reported by Yahoo News.
Madaya is located near the border with Lebanon and has a population of about 40,000. For six months, the town has been besieged by the Syrian government-allied forces. Meanwhile, the UN estimates that the towns in Idlib province in northwest Syria like al-Foua and Kefraya contain around 12,500 people. Since 2015, these locations have been surrounded by insurgents.
On Monday, Jenes Laerke, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesman said that they will submit a detailed list of supplies and other details. Mr. Laerke said that they would include and reiterate the request for nutrition supplies and entry of health and nutrition assessment teams.
World Policy reported that the siege of Madaya and the shocking images of malnourished children had brought renewed global attention to the Syrian conflict. Over the past months, it is now clear to the public that the people in Syria are suffering from starvation and that the death of hundreds is guaranteed if humanitarian agencies don't do anything to alleviate the situation.
The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) insisted that humanitarian aid reach should be prioritized before they will agree to enter indirect talks with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, as reported by ABC. However, OCHA did not release any specific time or date yet regarding the aid shipment.
The International Committee of Red Cross, Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the United Nations gave synchronized aid deliveries to Madaya, al-Foua, and Kefraya. The support started in October 2015, and reports say that the delivery happened three times in January.
