The February 6 quake that struck neighbouring Turkey killed more than 50,000 people, including almost 6,000 in Syria, according officials and medics.
In Syria alone, at least 8.8 million people have been affected by the devastating quake, according to the United Nations.
"The 3.7 million children in affected areas of Syria... are facing several growing and potentially catastrophic threats," the UN children's agency UNICEF said in a statement.
It cited the disaster's emotional and psychological impact as well as the increased risk of disease and "a lack of access to basic services for families left vulnerable by almost 12 years of conflict".
UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell, who wound up a two-day visit to Syria on Thursday, said "the children of Syria have already endured unspeakable horror and heartbreak".
The quake and aftershocks "not only destroyed more homes, schools and places for children to play, they also shattered any sense of safety for so many of the most vulnerable children and families".
UNICEF said it needed "$172.7 million to deliver immediate life-saving support for 5.4 million people, including 2.6 million children, impacted by the earthquake" in Syria.
"Providing access to essential services, like safe water, health care and psychosocial support" can help families begin to rebuild their lives, Russell added in the statement.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday urged the international community to help earthquake-hit northwest Syria, on his first ever visit to rebel-held areas of the country.
The UN has launched a $397 million appeal to help quake victims in Syria, but Tedros warned that "we are not getting as much as what is needed for this emergency".
Syria has also faced a deadly cholera outbreak that began last year.
Since 2011, Syria's war has killed nearly half a million people and forced around half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.
Many sought refuge in Turkey, including areas devastated by last month's earthquake.
UN chief urges nations to repatriate citizens from Syria camp
Baghdad (AFP) March 2, 2023 -
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for the swift repatriation of foreigners held in Syria's infamous Al-Hol camp which houses relatives of jihadists.
The sprawling and overcrowded Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp in northern Syria is home to more than 50,000 people, including family members of suspected Islamic State group militants as well as displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees.
Nearly half of the camp's population is under the age of 12 and residents are "deprived of their rights, vulnerable, and marginalised", Guterres said in a statement during a visit to Iraq.
"They are trapped in a desperate situation with no end in sight," he said at the Jadaa camp, which Iraqi authorities describe as a "rehabilitation" centre for those returning from Syria.
"I have no doubt to say that the worst camp that exists in today's world is Al-Hol, with the worst possible conditions for people and with enormous suffering for the people that have been stranded there for years," Guterres said.
He urged UN member states who have nationals in Al-Hol to "significantly step up their efforts to facilitate the safe and dignified repatriation of their nationals".
He praised war-ravaged Iraq, which has repatriated hundreds of families from Al-Hol since May 2021.
"All countries with their citizens in Al-Hol must do the same, and must do the same in a dignified repatriation in line with applicable international law, and in the case of children, guided by the principles of the best interests of children," he said.
Guterres warned that letting this "untenable situation fester" will only fuel "more resentment and despair" and threaten security and stability.
Kurdish authorities in Syria have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed only a trickle to return home, fearing security threats and a domestic political backlash.
IS seized vast areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and ruled with brutality until local forces backed by the US-led coalition defeated them, first in Iraq in late 2017 and then in Syria in March 2019.
Guterres has been in Iraq since late Tuesday on a "solidarity" visit, and will travel next to Qatar to attend the summit of the Least Developed Countries which opens on Sunday.
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