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UN / SYRIA
STORY: UN / SYRIA
TRT: 02:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 JANUARY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
30 JANUARY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ursula Mueller, Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“After almost eight years of conflict, people's needs are as vast as they are critical. The United Nations and its partners will continue to deliver to millions of people in need. The United Nations also stands ready to bolster such support, but requires efficient and effective mechanisms to ensure the safe and rapid delivery of aid.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ursula Mueller, Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“During these cold and wet winter months, many families have nothing else than improvised tents which they share with others. Attacks on medical facilities and vital infrastructure continue, with reports of at least 16 attacks on health care facilities during the month of December alone.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. Wide shot, Security Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ursula Mueller, Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“Although 29 patients in urgent need of medical care were allowed out of Eastern Ghouta in late December, hundreds more, most of them women and children, require immediate medical attention. So far, there have been 21 civilian deaths among those waiting and needing medical evacuation. Their needs are critical, and the law is clear. I urge all parties, and all those with influence over the parties, to see to it that all such medical evacuations take place without conditions and without delay.”
9. Wide shot, Security Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ursula Mueller, Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations:
“Not one convoy has been able to deploy. Discussions about convoys have stalled over requirements to lower the number of beneficiaries, and splitting convoys in a way that would not allow us to provide food or other essential items. Our deliveries must continue to be based on humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law, impartially based on civilian need.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller said after almost eight years of conflict in Syria, “people's needs are as vast as they are critical.”
Addressing the Security Council today (30 Jan), Mueller said UN estimates that 13.1 million people are in need of protection and humanitarian assistance, including 6.1 million people who are displaced within the country. She added that another 5.5 million people have fled the conflict across borders into neighbouring countries.
The UN official expressed particular concern for the safety and protection of civilians caught up in the violence in north-west Syria, where hostilities have reportedly caused numerous deaths and injuries. Airstrikes and fighting in southern Idleb and northern Hama have resulted in over 270,000 displacements since 15 December, driving people from their homes to other areas of Idleb. She said, “During these cold and wet winter months, many families have nothing else than improvised tents which they share with others.” She added that attacks on medical facilities and vital infrastructure continued, “with reports of at least 16 attacks on health care facilities during the month of December alone.”
Mueller reported that the UN was carefully monitoring the situation of over 300,000 people living in Afrin, Aleppo which is witnessing fighting. She also expressed concern over the situation in Eastern Ghouta and areas of Damascus. Although 29 patients in urgent need of medical care were allowed out of Eastern Ghouta in late December, Mueller said “hundreds more, most of them women and children, require immediate medical attention; so far, there have been 21 civilian deaths among those waiting and needing medical evacuation; their needs are critical, and the law is clear.” She urged all parties, “and all those with influence over the parties, to see to it that all such medical evacuations take place without conditions and without delay.”
The Assistant-Secretary-General said last month none of the UN cross-line convoys were able to reach besieged locations, and only two convoys accessed hard-to-reach areas. She noted that this month, the United Nations and partners have had no access to any such locations at all. She said, “Not one convoy has been able to deploy; discussions about convoys have stalled over requirements to lower the number of beneficiaries, and splitting convoys in a way that would not allow us to provide food or other essential items. Our deliveries must continue to be based on humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law, impartially based on civilian need.”
Mueller said the UN would continue to deliver to millions of people in need “but requires efficient and effective mechanisms to ensure the safe and rapid delivery of aid.”
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