Syria goverment seeks to boost humanitarian cooperation with Red Cross

As the humanitarian crisis in the country continues to unfold, Syria's Minister of Social Affairs Kinda Shammat stressed on Tuesday the Syrian government's interest in cooperating with the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC), the official SANA news agency reported. During her meeting with ICRC International Mission Chairman, Boris Michel, Shammat said coordination between the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross is essential in the delivery of medical and food aid to the thousands of civilians around the country who have little access to basic necessities as the Syrian army and rebel groups continue to clash around their neighborhoods. Providing potable water, sewage purification services, and rebuilding electrical infrastructure were some of the issues Michel suggested the two sides could cooperate on. Syria's civilians have been hard hit by the conflict that has already killed more than 100,000 people since opposition protesters first sought the ouster of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. Recent statistics show that 9.3 million Syrians, half of whom are children, are in need of basic necessities. Around 2.5 million Syrians live in areas cut off by the conflict and around 1.9 million Syrian children are out of school. As the situation intensifies, more civilians are fleeing the country. Around 2.2 million Syrians are living as displaced refugees in neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. With the conflict showing no sign of tapering down, the Syrian government, along with NGOs, has implemented a number of measures to help evacuate the afflicted people from conflict zones.