Syria - On June 1st international aid reached the besieged town of Daraya in Rural Damascus, Syria for the first time in four years.

Syria Arab Red Crescent (SARC) trucks loaded with UN, ICRC and IOM relief supplies left from Damascus to provide assistance in the besieged areas of Daraya and Moadamieh in Rural Damascus – less than 8 km southwest of Damascus.

The inter-agency convoys delivered critical life-saving assistance. An estimated 4,000 people will benefit from the supplies in Daraya and 22,500 people in Moadamieh.

IOM delivered primary health care equipment and supplies to support the health unit in Daraya, as well as 25 wheelchairs for children and adults. Another 15 wheelchairs and 25 pairs of crutches were sent to Moadamieh.

“Take my child to be fed. I’m willing to give her up,” a father from Moadamieh told IOM staff with the convoy. “We have eaten everything – even the little plants on the side of the streets. The situation has been miserable since the last aid we received (in March 2016).”

“We have no electricity, an acute need for health services and many children are no longer going to school. Child marriages are increasing (for economic reasons),” a local doctor told IOM.

While the convoys provided much needed relief, regular access will be necessary to meet the immediate needs of the people, according to IOM Syria. Additional convoys are being planned for the coming week to Moadamieh and other besieged locations.

The main challenge for IOM and its humanitarian partners in delivering humanitarian aid inside Syria remains a shortage of funding. The Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 remains acutely under-funded, with IOM activities only 9 percent funded as of May 2016. IOM’s contribution to the relief convoys was funded by Australia.

For further information please contact IOM Syria. Maria Rumman, Tel: + 963 9333 11204, Email: mrumman@iom.int  or Shihab Al Kairawan, Tel: + 963 992299330, Email: salkairawan@iom.int.