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Erksoussi

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14
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2021-08-24
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2021-08-24
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “On several occasions we have asked that sanctions be explained to banks, financial companies and other companies in the financial sector, so that they understand that humanitarians are not subject to sanctions. We look forward to Mr. Griffiths’ visit, which we hope will take place next week. At that time, we will be able to work together to obtain greater access and provide more support for the people in Syria.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  2. “Mr. Erksoussi: I do not have a lot to add, but allow me to renew the call for improved access and greater support to the humanitarian organizations in Syria. Of course, we do not believe that our work will solve the conflict, which is political and needs a political solution. We would like donor Governments and the permanent members and other members of the Security Council to facilitate our work. Although sanctions and restrictive measures are set out on paper, they nevertheless have a major effect on the ground. Banks and suppliers, which are afraid, do not want to transfer money either because of their fear or because they do not understand sanctions.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  3. “Let us provide more access and more support and impose fewer generalized sanctions and restrictive measures so that Syrians can live and rebuild their lives with dignity.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  4. “They should be able to actually send their children to school instead of just reading about how schools are good and that children should be sent there. We are tired. The staff of humanitarian organizations is exhausted and frustrated with the idea that declaring sanctions and restrictive measures on the entire population is a tool that will bring about change and a better future. They are attempts to hinder efforts to normalize the lives of people who are returning home to cities that have been destroyed. Those people are trying just to build a new life with the little they have left. I ask the Council to stop prioritizing political gains over ending the suffering of fellow humans, and let us all work together to fulfil the humanitarian pledges made.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  5. “There is a need to recognize the unintended consequences of the punitive measures on a population already ravaged by a decade of violence and instability. During my preparation for this briefing, I came across dozens of reports and analyses prepared by other humanitarian organizations working in Syria. Some organizations have demanded that the term “humanitarian work” be redefined so that their activities are not red-flagged. It is also necessary to persuade donors to fund humanitarian rehabilitation, because they cannot continue to give people water in bottles or jerrycans when the simplest logic dictates that they should maintain the water lines. People should be able to access water on their own and grow their own food instead of drinking and eating from boxes or cans.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  6. “I could go on listing the challenges that the people of Syria are facing and which humanitarian actors, including United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations, are trying to solve, but our job is not getting easier. The sanctions and restrictive measures are yet another factor adding to the suffering of people, including humanitarian personnel. Those measures are making it so much harder for millions of Syrian men, women, and children to get back on their feet with dignity. I addressed the Security Council nine months ago and, since then, it has become even more evident that the consequences of sanctions on the common people — and, for that matter, all humanitarian organizations in Syria — exceed any political objectives.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  7. “It is not because they do not need the food, but because they have more urgent priorities, such as medicine, shelter or even water, which they sometimes have to buy because the water supply is inadequate or there is no electricity to pump the water even if the supply is there. Many health services are at risk. Life-saving support in our dialysis centres is now at risk of being stopped as we cannot source the filters or materials to maintain that service. Even our partners at WHO are also facing challenges obtaining those filters. We currently have enough materials to last until the end of this coming September, so we have started to ask our patients to try and find other service providers. That is a critical, life-saving service that will stop within a month, yet there is still no solution on the horizon.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  8. “Both our teams and the United Nations teams stand at the 55-kilometre point, ready to facilitate their exit to areas of their choice across Syria. The socioeconomic hardship is taking its toll on the people of Syria. Food prices have gone through the roof. The price of the standard food basket has increased by nearly 200 per cent in the past year. A food parcel provided by ICRC or WFP and distributed by our volunteers is now worth a fortune. We also continuously monitor prices on the black market, which are increasing. There are indeed beneficiaries who sell or exchange some of their food for other commodities, which is now a fact of life.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  9. “The President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Mr. Khaled Hboubati, is always asking why cross-line missions are not taking place. I, in turn, pose that question to the United Nations, as hopefully the Organization is in a better position to provide an answer to us and to the Council. In the south of the country, near Al-Tanf, we are trying to resume our humanitarian intervention by helping those living in the Rukban camp to go back to their areas of origin. To date, we have facilitated the voluntary exit of more than 20,000 people without any problems, but there are still approximately 10,000 to 12,000 people inside the camp. The assessment that we conducted with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last year indicated that some of them want to leave.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  10. “As a humanitarian organization, we always aim to fulfil our mandate by reaching people in need everywhere. In March 2020, we secured the necessary approvals to carry out an inter-agency cross-line convoy to Atarib, near Idlib. However, more than a year later, there is still no guarantee that the convoy will go ahead. We also facilitated the approval for the World Food Programme (WFP) to preposition cross- line aid materials to Sarmada, which has not happened yet, either. Last month, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2585 (2021), which called for cross- line access in addition to cross-border access (see S/PV.8817). The resolution stipulated that all modalities possible should be used to reach the people in need, but I am sorry to report that the cross-line part of the resolution has still not become a reality.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  11. “Medical supplies were also delivered to the national hospital by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ICRC on 3 and 13 August. We are currently preparing to send a humanitarian convoy to Dara’a with food and other essential materials for those who have remained in their homes. It is an inter-agency convoy with SARC, ICRC, United Nations and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners that has been given the green light by the Syrian Government. As for Dara’a Al-Balad, an area in the eye of the conflict where we most recently distributed aid on 16 July, we are still monitoring the situation closely from a safety and security perspective. We will enter the area and deliver the much-needed aid once the situation permits.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  12. “SARC, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF are working day and night to fill water tanks in cities and to truck water from the few sources available, but we are merely scratching the surface of the problem, and there is a need for a more sustainable solution. In Dara’a, our teams are responding to the continued movement of the population due to the ongoing hostilities. Our teams have manned the humanitarian corridor, managing to secure the exit of more than 38,000 people, mostly women and children, to safety. We have opened six shelters to house some 1,449 people, while the rest have taken shelter with relatives or friends in the surrounding areas. We have also managed to provide first aid to 406 cases and medically evacuated nine cases to hospitals in Damascus.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  13. “We have asked on many occasions for the water station to be neutralized so that our teams and local water engineers can have unhindered access to maintain and operate the station, but that lifeline for millions of people is still being used as a bargaining chip between the parties. In addition, the water level in the Euphrates River has gone down, with less and less water coming from Turkey. Due to the hot summer weather, the area is now suffering from a severe drought. Even the few pumps we managed to install along the banks of the river cannot reach the water level, which has decreased by more than 10 metres.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source

  14. “Mr. Erksoussi: At the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Pedersen and wish Mr. Griffiths every success in his new position. Reports and analyses presented to the Security Council on the situation in Syria are numerous, but only a few of them come from local organizations working on the ground. For that reason, on behalf of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), I am grateful for the opportunity to share our experience as the foremost first-line responder to the worsening humanitarian situation in the country. In the north-east of Syria, the water crisis is yet another crisis that the people there have to cope with. More than 1.1 million people are without drinking water because the Allouk water station is out of operation, at times due to a lack of power and at others a lack of political will.”

    2021-08-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8841 (2021) · source