BuzzFeed reports: The United Nations altered a key humanitarian aid plan for Syria after consultation with the Assad regime, including deleting references to “besieged” areas such as Madaya where thousands of people are starving, Buzzfeed News can reveal.

UN insiders in the region and NGOs have accused the organisation of pandering to the regime by allowing it to censor the document.

A leaked copy of an original draft of the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan shows that a number of key changes were made to the final report after it was sent to the regime by the Damascus arm of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The proposal, which will form the basis of a $3.1 billion global aid appeal, was written in consultation with other UN teams and NGOs working in Syria, but the changes were made after it had been sent to the government by the Damascus office without consultation with the other authors. [Continue reading…]