The United Nations has said the Syrian government has agreed to allow access for humanitarian aid to seven besieged areas of the country.
Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the areas involved Deir ez-Zor, Foah, and Kafraya in the northern province of Idlib, and Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna, and Madamiyet Elsham near Damascus.
"Humanitarian agencies and partners are preparing convoys for these areas, to depart as soon as possible in the coming days," Huguenin added.
Damascus gave the green light to the aid convoys after the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, visited the capital on February 15.
De Mistura said earlier in the day that an aid convoy would be sent on February 17 to several towns under siege by the government or opposition groups.