UN Chief says 90% of Syrians live below poverty line

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, warned that 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line, while 60 per cent of Syrians suffer from food insecurity.

In a report presented to the Security Council on Thursday, Guterres added that as many as 7.78 million Syrians did not have access to an internationally acceptable minimum number of doctors or medical attendants.

In his report, the UN Chief stressed on the need to work on extending “cross-border” humanitarian aid mechanisms for another six months.

The Syria Response Coordinators team warned in a statement that 18 medical facilities providing services to more than 1.5 million civilians in north-western Syria had been cut off from support amid increased pressure on other facilities which have become unable to provide services to all civilians in the area.

The statement called on all donors to the medical sector in northern Syria to return support to these facilities, especially in light of the possibility that the region witnesses a new wave of the coronavirus.

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