This included our response during the escalation of conflict in Lebanon and subsequent displacement of hundreds of thousands of people to Syria, as well as during the hostilities across the country in November and December. We did so through support to hospitals and health centres in conflict-affected areas, emergency interventions to ensure access to clean water, and provision of food and non-food items. Bilateral and confidential dialogue with authorities and parties to the conflict, aimed to protect civilians and essential infrastructure as well as humanitarian workers under International Humanitarian Law, were also held.
We also focused on addressing the major long-term needs of affected communities including supporting and restoring health care services, livelihoods, and most importantly ensuring the access to water and electricity for the sustainable functioning of essential infrastructure and services, like water pumping and treatment facilities, hospitals, and schools. Furthermore, in places of detention visited by ICRC, we helped re-establish contact between thousands of detainees and their families and strove to improve conditions of detention. Additionally, thousands of families reached out to the ICRC to register details of their missing loved ones. Along with the relevant authorities and actors concerned, we will continue to seek all avenues to help these families get the answers they deserve on the fate of their missing family members.
The events of the final weeks of 2024 brought with it a wave of unprecedented changes in Syria, with tens of thousands of families fleeing violence, prisons being opened, and mass graves being discovered. Families also went through moments of hope and despair. While these changes enabled many people to return to their places of origin, thousands of families remain unable to do so, due to concerns about security, access to essential services, limited livelihood opportunities, destroyed towns and cities, and widespread contamination by explosive ordinance.
Syria remains a country with staggering humanitarian needs. Fourteen years of crises, including armed conflicts, has had devastating consequences on the lives of people who have also been impacted by ever degrading economic conditions, and natural disasters. We remain committed to ensuring that a strong and collective Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement response is delivered to addressing these needs. The task ahead is immense and will require the coordination of the Syrian civil society and concerned authorities alongside the sustained support of the wider humanitarian community.
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