I. Introduction
1. The present report is the thirty-first submitted pursuant to paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 2139 (2014), paragraph 10 of Council resolution 2165 (2014), paragraph 5 of Council resolution 2191 (2014) and paragraph 5 of Council resolution 2258 (2015), in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to report, every 30 days, on the implementation of the resolutions by all parties to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic.
2. The information contained herein is based on the data available to United Nations agencies on the ground, from the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, other Syrian sources and open sources. Data from United Nations agencies on their humanitarian deliveries have been reported for the period from 1 to 31 August 2016.
Box 1
Key points in August 2016
(1) Food assistance was provided to some 4.19 million people. However, only 5 per cent of this assistance was delivered through inter-agency convoys to besieged and hard-to-reach locations. A total of five inter-agency convoys were deployed to 10 hard-to-reach and besieged locations.
(2) The humanitarian situation across Aleppo continued to deteriorate with indiscriminate attacks, a shortage of basic supplies in the east and active fighting displacing some 30,000 people in western Aleppo.
(3) Forty medical evacuations were successfully undertaken from the besieged towns of Fu‘ah and Madaya (1 on 13 August, 36 on 19 August and 3 on 20 and 21 August).
(4) Following Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) being pushed out of Manbij and Jarabulus, large movements of people going back into the towns were recorded.
(5) On 26 and 27 August, following a local agreement between Syrian authorities and local representatives, the entire population of Darayya was evacuated.
(6) Fighting in late August resulted in the displacement of more than 55,000 people in Hama.
II. Major developments
3. During the reporting period, military activity and general insecurity resulted in the death of civilians and had a negative impact on the overall humanitarian situation. This includes the further damaging of civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools. Insecurity was also one of the major factors limiting the ability of United Nations agencies and their partners to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance. Heavy fighting continued across the country, including in Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr, Hasakah, Idlib, Rif Dimashq and other governorates.
4. The humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate across Aleppo throughout the month. The United Nations remained largely unable to bring humanitarian assistance to eastern Aleppo throughout August. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was able to deliver fuel to run the generators powering two of the three pumping stations, located in eastern Aleppo, for the entire city. In addition, the International Organization for Migration entered through the temporarily open Ramusah corridor in the south with one truck, but halted operation when a second was hit by a rocket. Owing to the fighting around Ramusah, the main supply route into western Aleppo was cut and regular food distributions to the west were not possible from mid-July until 13 August. The fighting also displaced nearly 30,000 people in the south-west of the city. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation released a statement on 18 August supporting the United Nations call for a weekly 48-hour pause in fighting to allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and discussions between the Co-Chairs of the International Syria Support Group, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, continued throughout the month.