UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- More than 825,000 displaced people in Syria have returned to their homes since December, leaving just under 2 million homeless in the country, the United Nations said on Thursday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said most of the displaced people are in Syria's northwest, many sheltering in overcrowded sites and frail tents. The majority are in Idlib and Aleppo.

Syria fell into instability late last year as the Bashar al-Assad government collapsed. It was replaced with transitional leadership.

OCHA said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners provide assistance as conditions and funding allow, including winter aid to northern Syria, where the weather is particularly harsh at this time of the year. UN partners have provided emergency repairs to roads and sewage systems affected by past flooding in the northwest.

The office said that nine markets are being rehabilitated near displacement camps. And more than 260,000 children in Idlib and northern Aleppo received heaters, winter clothes, and other aid.

"Winter kits were also distributed to hundreds of children in Qamishli in Al-Hasakeh governorate," OCHA said. "During the same period, health partners have deployed mobile medical teams, provided mental health support and reinforced facilities with heating and insulation, reaching 800,000 people in the northwest."

However, OCHA sounded an alarm over poor funding for humanitarian aid. The office said the world body has received less than 10 percent of the 1.2 billion U.S. dollars needed to assist 6.7 million Syrians through March. Enditem

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