“A 10-vehicle convoy brought relief items for 400 displaced families, equivalent to some 2,000 individuals,” a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards, told journalists today in Geneva.

The team, including UNCHR, World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), travelled between 17 and 21 February to Hpakant area, west of the Kachin state capital.

The inter-agency visit was the first to the area since January 2012 in which UN staff were able to reach internally displaced people. Edwards said the visit was made possible after access was granted by the Myanmar Government.

The team distributed tarpaulins for shelter, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking sets, clothes and sanitary items.

It also assessed living conditions in 17 camps in Hpakant housing more than 6,000 internally displaced persons.

Aid workers said the communal shelters were overcrowded and lacked privacy, leading to tensions and potential security issues. They also noted a need for improved water and sanitation facilities, as well as more health-care services and improvements to camp infrastructure.

Some 75,000 people have fled their homes in Kachin since fighting began in June 2011 between Government troops and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). The fighting intensified in September and December last year, before authorities in Myanmar announced a unilateral ceasefire in January.

The UN had said it remained committed to helping and supporting the people of Myanmar, including through its good offices and through humanitarian aid and development.

Over the coming weeks UNHCR plans to return to Hpakant to distribute supplies for another 1,000 displaced families that have yet to receive any assistance, Edwards said.

“There were no casualties among the observers, but several Syrian soldiers were injured and taken to hospital,” the spokesperson, Ahmad Fawzi, said in response to media questions in Geneva.

The observers are serving with the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which was authorized by the Council last month, and is tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria and supporting the full implementation of a six-point plan put forward by Mr. Annan.

“[UNSMIS' Chief Military Observer] General Mood told reporters accompanying his convoy that this was an example of what the Syrian people were suffering on a daily basis and that all forms of violence must stop,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Annan’s plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

The crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.