The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths estimated the number of Syrians living below the poverty line at more than 90% of the country's total population, and indicated that many of them are forced to make very difficult choices to make ends meet.
Griffiths called - during a session of the UN Security Council yesterday on the developments of the Syrian crisis - the international community to provide urgent "life-saving" aid and deliver it effectively and transparently to millions of people in need in northwestern Syria, so that they can provide for themselves with dignity.
The UN official said that in addition to increasing poverty, a water crisis and deteriorating food security, the population of Syria is also facing a re-emergence of coronavirus cases, which is on the rise.
Griffiths added that the Syrians are about to face another harsh winter, noting that rain, cold and winter will exacerbate difficulties and dangers.
In this context, he pointed out that there are about two million people - mostly women and children - living in fragile camps, in flooded valleys, or on the slopes of rocky hills exposed to weather factors.
In March 2011, popular protests erupted in Syria demanding the departure of the regime and a peaceful transfer of power, but the regime's president, Bashar al-Assad, repressed them militarily, which pushed the country into a devastating war.
Before 2011, the population of Syria was about 23 million, and as a result of the war, about 9 million people were displaced, according to human rights organizations.