UN chief Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to provide more money for Turkey and Syria and widen access for aid to reach the earthquake-stricken parts of Syria.
Guterres was speaking hours after the first UN aid convoy crossed into Syria from Turkey.
“More help is on the way, but much more – much more – is needed,” the secretary general said.
He said the UN would launch an international appeal next week for funding for the effort.
“People are facing nightmare on top of nightmare,” Guterres added.
People living in northwest Syria had already endured 12 years of civil war when the earthquake struck, with humanitarian aid delivered through only a single crossing from Turkey amid opposition from Russia, the main ally of the Syrian government, which wants aid to come through Damascus.
Syria is under international sanctions but Guterres stressed they did not affect humanitarian assistance.
“No sanctions of any kind interfere with relief to the population of Syria in the present,” he said.
