S/PV.7293 Security Council

In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Ms. Kang Kyung-wha, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I welcome Ms. Kang, who is joining today’s meeting via video-teleconference from Geneva. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2014/756, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014). I now give the floor to Ms. Kang. Ms. Kang: On behalf of the Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, I have the honour to deliver this monthly statement on the implementation of resolutions 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014) on the humanitarian situation in Syria. Armed violence continues to escalate throughout the country, the humanitarian situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, and the level of violence, death and destruction remains unrelenting. Millions of Syrians are forced to live in appalling conditions where there is no safe refuge within their borders; where their basic needs for protection and survival are unmet; where their fundamental rights are trampled upon with impunity; and where their futures and that of their country look increasingly desolate. High numbers of civilians were killed in September following indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, including attacks on schools and medical structures. Tens of thousands of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes again this month, many of them for the second or third time. Children continue to suffer the brunt of this conflict. On 1 October, a twin bombing close to Al-Makhzoumi School in Homs resulted in 50 people  — including 29 children  — losing their lives and dozens more being injured. On 27 October, two more schools in Government-controlled parts of Aleppo were hit. In one incident, three rockets landed near a school in Aleppo city, killing 3, including one child, and injuring 25 more. Mortars fired on another Aleppo school later in the day killed 6 people, including 4 children, and injured 30 more. There continue to be gross violations of international humanitarian law, which should be universally condemned. So long as the parties to conflict continue to disregard their international legal obligations, I regret that we will continue to report on more and more senseless tragedies, despite the demands of resolutions 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014). In the past month, nearly 200,000 people have fled the brutal advance of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and sought refuge in Turkey. Nearly 14,000 of them have subsequently sought refuge in Iraq, adding to the numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons already seeking refuge there. ISIL and all other parties to the conflict in Syria are killing and injuring people and destroying villages, towns and cities with impunity. Armed opposition groups have intensified their attacks and the Government’s aerial bombardments, including with barrel bombs, have continued. Just yesterday, a small settlement of internally displaced persons in Idlib was reportedly struck by barrel bombs, killing a number of people, including women and children. On 9 October, some 250 people were reported wounded in the bombing of a crowded market in Arbin, a town in the besieged area of East Ghouta, where a hospital supported by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is treating hundreds of trauma patients, many of them children, following other attacks in the town. Medical facilities and personnel also continue to be attacked and are otherwise impacted by the conflict. Nine medical staff were killed in September and seven facilities were hit. Twenty-four percent of hospitals are reported as not functioning. Despite these challenges, the United Nations and partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance to millions of people in need. In the past month, more than 3.9 million people have received food aid; medicines and supplies for 1.6 million treatments have been dispatched; and hundreds of thousands have received relief items and other support, all delivered in extremely difficult circumstances. Cross-border assistance has also allowed us to reach more people in need. Supplies for over half a million medical treatments have been delivered since the adoption of resolution 2165 (2014). Food for 160,000 people and non-food items for 240,000 people, among other assistance, have also been delivered. Cross-border operations remain a crucial delivery mechanism for the United Nations, especially given the development of the joint operational plan agreed under resolution 2165 (2014), which better coordinates the delivery of assistance by the United Nations and NGOs working from within Syria and across the borders. We are still unable to deliver sufficient quantities of aid to people in the hardest-to-reach areas. Fighting and insecurity continue to hamper our ability to respond. The World Food Programme (WFP) was once again unable to reach the nearly 600,000 people targeted in ISIL-controlled Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa governorates, which were last reached in May and July, respectively. Violence and insecurity in the north have also cut in half WFP’s cross-line deliveries in Aleppo and Idlib. In addition to insecurity, the parties to the conflict continue to place other obstacles in the way of delivering assistance. The Government’s bureaucratic hurdles continue to delay or deny the delivery of aid. For example, despite prior approval for the delivery of medical supplies to Tir Mala and Ghanto in rural Homs, Syrian Government security forces on the ground removed all injectable medicines, antibiotics and surgical supplies from an inter-agency convoy before it was allowed to depart, denying people nearly 10,000 people of much-needed medical treatment. Some 241,000 people remain besieged, mostly by Government forces. In the past month, and despite frequent requests, the United Nations has been allowed only limited access to Yarmouk. Some 8,500 people have received food support, 1,100 have received medical treatments, and 2,100 have received non-food items. This is just a fraction of the needs in Yarmouk. The requests of the United Nations to reach besieged areas in Rural Damascus, including Duma, Zamalka and Arbin, have gone unanswered by the Government of Syria. An increasing number of wounded have been reported, and people are in desperate need of help. Assistance is also ready to be delivered to the besieged communities of Nubul and Zahra, in Aleppo, but the opposition groups in control have yet to give us access to reach some 45,000 people in need. Food, medicines and other assistance are just a short distance away from those who desperately require it. If the parties grant access, we can deliver. We can save lives. But our requests have so far gone unanswered, and that is wholly unacceptable. A lack of funding is also severely compromising our operations and remains a major obstacle to our ability to reach more people in need. At this point last year, the $1.4 billion appeal for activities inside Syria was 57 per cent funded. Today, we have received only 39 per cent of the required $2.3 billion. The consequences are stark. Food assistance will be reduced for over 4 millions Syrians; 1 million will not receive blankets, warm clothes or fuel ahead of the winter. We appeal to the international community to redouble its efforts so that we can respond to the ever-growing needs. The human suffering in Syria is worsening. The numbers of people killed and injured in nearly four years of conflict are staggering. The collective punishment inflicted upon civilians is appalling, and so too is the callous disregard of the parties to the conflict for the people of Syria, for their safety and dignity, and for the country’s future. The parties must comply with their international legal obligations to protect people. They must allow us the access required to help those in need. And we need the international community’s continued financial support to help expand our reach. While we in the humanitarian community continue, to the best of our abilities, to work hard to deliver aid to all who need it, ultimately the answer to the crisis in Syria and the region will come only through a political solution that truly addresses the root causes of the crisis.

I thank Ms. Kang for her briefing. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.