In Syria, a United Nations convoy reached the besieged Damascus suburb of Ghouta Monday, carrying aid for tens of thousands of residents at risk of famine from a stifling government siege. This is Mark Lowcock, the U.N.’s humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Mark Lowcock: “An alarming number of child malnutrition cases have been recorded there, and more than 400 people with health problems require medical evacuation. I join the call of the World Food Program and others for unimpeded humanitarian access.”

The U.N. said its shipment will provide relief to about 40,000 people—a small fraction of the estimated 350,000 Syrians in the area who’ve seen food, fuel and medicine cut off since government forces blocked access to smuggling tunnels earlier this year.