UN humanitarian work in Syria gets a thumbs up

UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos visited Syria to look at ways to strengthen UN's ongoing relief efforts in the nation and support its staff who continued to work in a challenging environment.

UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Amos "had a number of positive meetings on Thursday with the Syrian authorities and humanitarian partners", reports Xinhua.

"The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the broader UN family together have more than 4,500 staff in Syria, who are delivering humanitarian support to those in urgent need," Haq said.

Last month, Amos urged commitment by all Syrian parties "to stop actions that result in loss of civilian lives, to allow access for aid organisations, and to respect their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law".

Syria plunged into a political crisis in March 2011, which later developed into armed conflicts in the Middle East country and has left some 100,000 people reportedly killed.

With an estimated 5,000 Syrians fleeing their homes everyday, the continued violence has now forced more than two million people to flee their war-torn country and left another 4.2 million internally displaced, the United Nations refugee agency had said earlier this week.

There was no sign that the "humanitarian calamity" would end anytime soon, it had said.