Floods in Idlib: Demand Urgent UN Action

Tweet to demand urgent action from the UN

“Rain has been pouring down on refugee camps across Idlib for the past week creating catastrophic floods. Once again hundreds of families have been forced to seek shelter elsewhere.

“Over the past six days, more than 2,900 tents across 225 camps have been totally or partially flooded. My heart broke when I was told that six-year-old Abdulrazak al-Jubasi had died when his makeshift shelter made of cement blocks collapsed due to heavy rain.

“Families who have lost their tents are sheltering with their neighbours, with nowhere else to go. The food in one camp’s main kitchen was completely flooded and the camp’s bathrooms are completely damaged and surrounded by water. I saw a child trying to swim across freezing cold water to use the toilet.”

– Hiba Barakat, freelance journalist and photographer in Idlib reporting on the flooding crisis from displacement camps.

The humanitarian crisis in Idlib is as predictable as it is preventable. Every winter the camps flood, and every winter heartbreaking images are shared on social media. This is a systematic problem caused by 10 years of failure by the UN and the international aid system in Syria.

At the most basic level, the UN has failed to provide shelter on habitable land, or to prepare existing camps for bad weather. Simple operations like paving roads could help prevent floods. On top of this, the UN’s bureaucracy means planning and needs assessments are not done in time every winter, local partners and camp residents aren’t consulted, and funding and aid money is delayed.

Let’s put pressure on the UN to provide proper, safe shelters and services for those still unable to return to their homes and to take serious steps to prevent future disasters. Click on one of the photos below to send an urgent Tweet to UN officials.

Click to tweet this:

Photo credit: Hiba Barakat

Click to tweet this:

Photo credit: White Helmets

Click to tweet this:

Photo credit: White Helmets

Click to tweet this:

Photo credit: Hiba Barakat

Send an email to demand urgent action from the UN

If you don’t use Twitter, please write an email to the UN’s top decision makers. Here are some points to help:

• Over the past six days, more than 2,900 tents across 225 displacement camps in Idlib, Syria have been totally or partially flooded.
• The humanitarian crisis in Idlib is as predictable as it is preventable. Every winter the camps flood. This is a systematic problem caused by 10 years of failure by the UN and the international aid system in Syria.
• The UN has failed to provide shelter on habitable land. Planning and needs assessments are not done in time every winter, local partners and camp residents aren’t consulted, and funding and aid money is delayed.
• The UN must provide proper, safe shelters and services for those still unable to return to their homes and take serious steps to prevent future disasters

Email the office of Mark Lowcock, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs: [email protected]

Email the office of António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations: [email protected]

Email Imran Riza, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria: [email protected]