 For the last three years, Syria has been a war zone. Ever since the fighting started, the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Bread Crescent have been delivering food, water and other essentials to people in need. Our first step was to deliver drinking water to isolated communities by tanker, but our operations rapidly expanded. In May 2012, we supplied water to over 160,000 people, keeping the supply flowing meant repairing, maintaining and modernising the water installations. By the end of 2012, 15 million people out of 22 million had clean water. And by the end of 2013, around 80% of the population had water they could drink safely. But in some parts of the country, there is no water network and it's still not possible to deliver humanitarian aid. In those regions, there's nothing the ICRC can do. Delivering food, clothing and essential supplies is even more complicated, as there are no distribution networks for these goods. The first winter of the conflict brought extreme conditions. The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Bread Crescent supplied food to 37,000 people. In February 2012, the ICRC called on the warring parties to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. This resulted in a minor victory as we were allowed to provide food, medical care and hygiene articles in several cities. 70,000 people received food. In May 2012, the ICRC launched an appeal for 27 million dollars. The effects of this cash were soon very visible in the field where we were able to supply food to twice as many people as before. In September 2012, fighting forced large numbers of people to flee their homes. The president of the ICRC visited Syria and asked for humanitarian personnel to be able to go wherever help was needed. But even today, there are many areas where aid workers can't operate. In May 2013, the ICRC supplied food to 250,000 people. But many more went without. Four million people were displaced within Syria and at least one million were living as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. In July, donors released 65 million dollars. The level of aid rose but the ICRC was unable to enter certain areas that were under siege, such as the city of Homs. Nevertheless, almost half a million people received food and other essential supplies. Getting access to the areas most affected by fighting remained difficult between July and December 2013. The living conditions deteriorated in several cities with food shortages, no medical care and no electricity. In 2013, the ICRC supplied drinking water to 20 million people in Syria. Working with a Syrian Arab bread crescent, we distributed food to three and a half million people. And a million people received mattresses, blankets and other essentials. But all this aid falls well short of what is needed. 34 volunteers from the Syrian Arab bread crescent have been killed in the course of their humanitarian duties since the conflict started. Others have been injured or kidnapped. And today, in 2014, humanitarian workers are still unable to reach many other people who need their help.