In Syria, more than 15 million people need humanitarian aid, about 70 percent of the population. For the first time since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, people in all regions of the country are experiencing some kind of “humanitarian stress”, according to the UN agency for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA).

Only 10 percent responded to the United Nations’ appeal to raise the equivalent of more than 5 billion euros to help more than 14 million people in Syria. The United Nations World Food Program warns that without additional funds, 2.5 million Syrians risk stopping receiving food or financial aid from July.

The situation was exacerbated by the earthquake in February of this year, which severely affected the northwest of the country. More than 6,000 Syrians have been killed and more than 330,000 people have been displaced. “The Syrian population is increasingly dependent on humanitarian aid. Basic services and critical infrastructure are collapsing,” said Ghada Mudawi, director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Syrians need the international community’s help now more than at any time in the past 12 years.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previously called for a 12-month extension of the UN’s mandate in Syria, which ends in July. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said humanitarian aid was “no longer useful” and Russia “sees no reason to extend it”. He stated that aid only reaches “terrorists in Idlib”. The northwestern border region is in the hands of the rebels who fought against the Russian-backed Assad regime.

After oppression and a bloody civil war, the earthquake was the next disaster for Syria, NOS on 3 explains in this video: