SEATTLE (December 14, 2016) — World Vision is preparing for the potential mass evacuation of civilians from Aleppo City by providing clean water and sanitation services, and pre-positioning emergency supplies, food, and hygiene kits for up to 100,000 people in the areas surrounding the city — between A’zaz and Idleb districts in the region north and west of Aleppo.
With temperatures dropping below freezing in Aleppo, World Vision also plans to distribute blankets, mattresses and other winter supplies to those who are displaced.
“Eastern Aleppo lies in ruins with this battle entering its final phase – yet the atrocities continue,” said Mark Smith, World Vision Senior Director of Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs. “Civilians are targeted by violence. Injured and sick children are dying. Humanitarian aid and protection are nowhere to be found and the temperatures dip below freezing at night. We need to get people out of the city and into safe areas where organizations like World Vision can provide them with life-saving aid and winter supplies. World leaders need to .”
“As we go about our holiday preparations, the families and children of Aleppo are literally being massacred,” said Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S. We must never lose our capacity to feel outrage when human beings are so callously slaughtered, and then we must turn that outrage into action. Pray, give, and raise your voices in support of these Syrian families.”
World Vision is already responding in the Aleppo Governorate to those previously displaced by conflict by providing clean water and sanitation, supporting mobile health clinics and women and children’s centers and providing the district’s women and children’s hospital with equipment and supplies.
The latest news comes as World Vision found in a recent survey that Americans say they are less willing to respond to refugees now than they were a year ago. More information on those survey results is here.
More information about the Syrian refugee crisis and about World Vision’s humanitarian response is available here.
About World Vision:
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization conducting relief, development, and advocacy activities in its work with children, families, and their communities in nearly 100 countries to help them reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.WorldVision.org/media-center/ or on Twitter @WorldVisionUSA.
Highlights
- “As we go about our holiday preparations, the families and children of Aleppo are literally being massacred,” says World Vision U.S. president.