A local hospital was also forced to suspend operations, with patients evacuated and mobile medical teams deployed. Authorities have opened shelters and prepared additional housing for families in need.
Humanitarian partners are relocating displaced families, repairing damaged shelters and providing emergency assistance, including food and non-food items, OCHA said.
In another incident related to the response, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent staff member was killed and five others injured when their vehicle crashed while assisting flood-affected communities.
Displacement remains widespread
The flooding comes as displacement persists in other parts of the country.
While fighting has subsided in Aleppo, Al-Hasakeh and Ar-Raqqa governorates following a January 30 agreement, nearly 160,000 people remained displaced as of February 3.
Humanitarian access has improved in some areas, but major challenges remain. Power outages continue to disrupt water systems, telecommunications are intermittent, food supplies are limited, explosive munitions remain a threat, and schools remain suspended.
Hurricane Melissa hit Cuba in late October 2025, causing massive devastation across the island nation.
Cuba: UN urges funding as fuel shortage puts essential services to the test
The United Nations is appealing for urgent funds to support humanitarian operations in Cuba, where fuel shortages following the suspension of supplies from Venezuela are disrupting essential services and hampering recovery efforts following last year’s Hurricane Melissa.
“The UN continues to monitor the situation in the country and is working with the Government to provide further support, including food, water, sanitation and medical care,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said at a regular news conference in New York.
“We are concerned about the growing fuel shortage and its impact on people,” he added, noting disruptions to the supply of clean water, healthcare, food and other critical aid.
UN action plan
In November 2025, the UN in Cuba launched an Action Plan to support the national response to Hurricane Melissa, which affected more than two million people (approximately one in five residents nationwide).
The plan focuses on helping families recover and restore essential services, while supporting longer-term recovery efforts led by national authorities.
The Action Plan seeks 74 million dollars, but currently only has 23 percent funding.
World conference seeks new impetus to end child labor
An international effort to accelerate the elimination of child labor will launch in Morocco later this week, as governments and partners come together to confront a crisis that still affects 138 million children around the world.
From February 11 to 13, Morocco will host the sixth World Conference on the Elimination of Child Labor, led by the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) and bringing together governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society, the private sector and international partners.
The meeting comes at a critical time.
According to UN estimates, 138 million children continue to work worldwide, including around 54 million in hazardous jobs that threaten their health, safety and development. 87 million of these children live in Africa.
Agriculture remains the main driver, accounting for 61 percent of child labor globally, particularly in small-scale agriculture.
The child’s place is in school.
ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo underlined the link between decent work and child protection, saying: “Children must go to school, not work. Parents themselves must be supported and have access to decent work so that they can afford to ensure that their children are in classrooms.”
While progress has been made – child labor has nearly halved since 2000 and has fallen by more than 20 million since 2020 – the world has fallen short of the Sustainable Development Goals goal of eliminating child labor in all its forms by 2025.