Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to include access to widow camps in North West Syria in their Syria Response Plan.

The UK supports improved access to reach populations in need across Syria. The UK continues to use our position at the UN Security Council to call on all parties to respect agreed ceasefires and we work closely with humanitarian partners, such as the UN and NGOs, to press for improved humanitarian access. The UK has sent a joint letter with six other donors to the UN leadership calling for a more effective response to Gender Based Violence (GBV) across the whole of Syria by ensuring greater prioritisation of critical needs, such as widows camps and more clearly articulated workplans to address them.

The UK funds UN and NGO partners to provide food, non-food items, water, education, healthcare, trauma and psychosocial support, safe spaces for children and victims of GBV and other life-saving assistance to those most in need in north west Syria. In 2021, the UK was the second largest donor to the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF), a multi-sector, multi-donor pooled fund that has the flexibility to respond to emergency needs. The SCHF directs support towards the urgent needs of an estimated 2.8 million internally displaced persons in North West Syria, including women and children in widow camps.