In an unprecedented move, the United Nations has begun exploring the process of opening offices in northwestern Syria, after nine years of working remotely through local partners. This step, which humanitarian organizations in Syria have been hoping for for years, comes at a time when trust in U.N. agencies in Syria is at an all-time low.
Questions are being asked about the goals and timing of the proposal, given the U.N.’s politicized response to February’s devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake, and its aid failures in northwest Syria.
The question of whether the new U.N. offices in northwest Syria, an opposition-held region, will be run from Damascus or Gaziantep in southern Turkey is also critical given the controversial history of U.N. involvement in the country.
About the author
Dr. Mohamad Katoub
Dr. Mohamad Katoub is a project manager at IMPACT for civil society research and development. His work focuses on humanitarian policy and protection of aid workers in Syria. He is a research fellow at the Syrian impact study at the center of global health at the University of California, Berkeley and a fellow at the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley school of law. He is a licensed dentist and was a former humanitarian worker in Syria.