Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSecurity Council
8117th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
Although the United Nations and its partners were continuing to deliver life‑saving aid despite constant challenges, some 13.1 million people in Syria were still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today.
Introducing the Secretary‑General’s report (document S/2017/982), Mark Lowcock said that the United Nations 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Syria, released last week, highlighted the continued plight of the Syrian people. Syria remained the world’s largest displacement crisis, with half of all Syrians displaced. Not only were an estimated 1.75 million children out of school, but one third of schools had been damaged or destroyed, and fewer than half of Syria’s health facilities were fully operational. Nearly three million people lived in besieged and hard to reach areas, 94 per cent of them in eastern Ghouta.
Fighting had escalated in eastern Ghouta and Damascus, he reported. Therefore, news of a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, if sustained, was important. However, he was extremely worried about the food crisis in eastern Ghouta, he said, adding that only 100,000 people out of an estimated population of 400,000 had received food assistance. Severe acute malnutrition rates among children in eastern Ghouta had increased fivefold in the past 10 months.
Describing humanitarian situations in other areas, including Raqqa Governorate and along the Syrian‑Jordanian border, he said that despite constant challenges, the United Nations and its partners were continuing to provide life‑saving assistance to millions of people every month. Yet, while assistance to areas under control of the Government continued to be the majority of the Organization’s response, cross‑line convoys continued to be heavily restricted.
Cross‑border deliveries of humanitarian assistance, monitored by the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism, to north‑western and southern Syria had reached more than 750,000 people each month over the last ten months. However, civilians in areas not under the control of the Government were being reached in much larger numbers, and with much more comprehensive support, through cross‑border operation than through cross‑line operations. It was for that reason, he said, that the renewal of Security Council resolution 2165 (2014) was essential to save lives.
The representative of the United States said that in eastern Ghouta, the Assad regime was pummelling a population that had been starving for months. “The objective is not peace but domination,” she stated, and called on those with influence over the regime, particularly the Russian Federation, to demand that all areas receive assistance and that civilians were protected from air strikes. Underlining the critical importance of the authorization for cross‑border assistance, as it had enabled regular delivery to 1 million people, she called for maintenance of the rare Council unity on that issue.
The Russian Federation’s representative said that his country was engaged with armed groups in eastern Ghouta on issues of humanitarian assistance and medical evacuation. He also noted that the Syrian Government had announced a period of calm in that area. Turning to cross‑border deliveries, he said any discussion on the issue would be difficult because the provisions of resolution 2165 (2014) were not being complied with. Cross‑border aid needed to reach all areas of Syria, he stated, requesting a briefing in that regard. The Monitoring Mechanism, based on an emergency measure, needed to be reassessed.
Syria’s representative called for an end to the use of humanitarian reports as a tool for those who criticized his Government, which was allowing access of all aid targeted for civilians to be properly delivered. Humanitarian reports had been politicized and were not using the most reliable source of information, that of the Syrian Government. Cross‑border aid did not help the situation, but provided movement and supply opportunities for armed terrorists, he said, adding that United Nations staff must not deal with secessionist entities or terrorist groups. He called on those who wrote the humanitarian report to hold the Coalition, led by the United States, responsible for the deaths of hundreds and the destruction of entire neighbourhoods in Raqqa. He also called for coverage, in future reports, of the deep humanitarian impact of unilateral measures against his Government, including the lack of fulfilment of assistance pledges.
Also speaking were representatives of Uruguay, Bolivia, Kazakhstan and France.
The meeting began at 10:11 a.m. and ended at 11:14 a.m.
Download
There is no media available to download.
