YouSaid · the spoken record

Griffiths

lines on the record: 722
first: 2018-04-17
most recent: 2023-10-18
sittings or episodes: 57
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Early recovery is essential, simply for the self-respect and future prospects of the people of Syria. The cross- border mechanism cannot be substituted. I am sorry to be so gloomy. I join Mr. Pedersen in his priorities, his humanitarian framework and all other efforts that he and his Office need in order to try to bring an end to this tragedy for the people of Syria.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“But we also need the continued facilitation and support of all the parties in the region, and the Council, to improve our cross-line access. In the north-west, the ninth cross- line mission to Sarmada, in Idlib governorate, was completed at the beginning of this month. Therefore, our record this year is better. The inter-agency convoy delivered food, medicines, sanitation and hygiene items and reproductive health kits. Of course we need to see more of those convoys. However — and I must repeat this, as I always do — they cannot compensate for the massive scale of the cross-border operation. For every month in 2022, on average, nearly 600 trucks have delivered food and other essential aid across the border to north-west Syria. Cross-line deliveries are therefore an essential complement, and it is essential to build them up.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“I cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining that lifeline for the millions of people in the north-west in particular. This is not about excluding the north-east but about focusing on the north-west. Not renewing the resolution jeopardizes the delivery of aid when people need it most, amid a cholera outbreak and in the middle of winter. I also want to give the Council some statistics on early recovery. Since January, at least 125 humanitarian agencies have been implementing 374 projects in every governorate in Syria in early recovery. As a piece of good news, those projects have received a record $517 million; 274 of the 374 projects are funded and have received a little less than that amount. In this way early recovery, as the resolution requires, has been built up.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“Gender-based violence is rampant in Syria in the form of physical, sexual, psychological and indeed economic abuse. Approximately 7.3 million people, an overwhelming majority of whom are women and girls, need support to confront and overcome gender-based violence. That is 7.3 million who are in need of such support — a third of the total population. We must ensure that they receive that support. We must give them our help and a steady shoulder. In less than three weeks, resolution 2642 (2022), which enables us to deliver cross-border humanitarian assistance to north-west Syria, to which Mr. Pedersen also referred, is due to expire. Needless to say, I am asking for the Council’s support to enable us to do our job, do what generous Member States require of us and deliver that assistance to all who need it, no matter where they are.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“Families will not have fuel, heaters, blankets, winter clothes and other items that they need merely to ward off the cold and protect their children from its terrible grip. Once again, it will of course be families headed by women that will be the most gravely affected. The general funding outlook for Syria is fairly discouraging too. We are not far away from the end of 2022, and the 2022 humanitarian response plan for the country is 43 per cent funded. And I am sure that is where we will end the year — under half funded. The low level of funding this late in the year is in fact unprecedented. We know the many reasons that have contributed to that. But let us please try not to let this become another disappointing record next year. Women and girls are bearing the brunt of the continuing crisis.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“As we speak and sit here, millions of people in Syria are spending their twelfth consecutive winter in displacement. For the 2 million living in tents, camps and makeshift shelters, winter is a cruel time indeed, with its sub-zero temperatures, strong winds, sudden squalls, snowstorms and flooding that destroy their shelter. Approximately 6 million people — an annual increase of a third — are in need of urgent assistance this winter. The winterization response, which agencies deliver to respond to special winter needs, led by our colleagues at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is 21 per cent funded. That means that more than two thirds of the people who need help to deal with the scourges I just mentioned will not receive it.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“The year 2022 was also notable as the year of cholera, making a resurgence for the first time in Syria in 15 years, as indeed it is in many places around the world, profiting, as it does, from health systems under strain. Outbreaks of cholera usually occur in communities struggling to access safe water where the sanitation and public health infrastructure has been damaged owing to conflict or natural disasters, of which Syria has both. Some 62,000 suspected cholera cases have been reported as of 18 December, and sadly, 100 people have died. Humanitarian partners are scaling up surveillance and testing capacities, monitoring water quality, training health-care workers and promoting awareness. And we urgently need additional funding to continue responding to that particular outbreak.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“Prices for essential food commodities, the core need and the basic food basket for a family in Syria, have surged by more than 90 per cent during this year. It is of course therefore no surprise that the vast majority of families in Syria are unable to meet their own basic needs. Families headed by women feel the impact of these alarming trends most acutely. This is the worse since the crisis began, and I do not believe that 2023 will bring the people of Syria much relief. Despite funding challenges and a complex operational environment — perhaps the most complex in all the world’s humanitarian response programmes today — our humanitarian partners have been delivering life-saving assistance to 7.8 million people every month this year, including 2.7 million reached through the cross-border operations that Mr. Pedersen referred to.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“That number will go up in 2023 once again to reach a new and awful record of 15.3 million. We have not seen those kinds of numbers, death rates, damage and need since the beginning of the crisis. More than 12 million people, which is more than half of the population of Syria, are struggling to put food on the table. Mr. Pedersen spoke movingly, I thought, of the economic situation facing them. Nearly 3 million additional people could slide into food insecurity. Socioeconomic conditions continued to deteriorate. Spiralling domestic inflation, most evident in the continued devaluation of the local currency — and coupled with the rising global food and fuel prices that we know so well — is putting basic food items and other essentials out of reach for millions of families.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I am afraid the Security Council will hear from me in very similar terms and words to the ones that we just heard from Mr. Pedersen about the extraordinarily gloomy and dire situation facing the people of Syria. I am grateful to Mr. Pedersen for his exposition. Many records were broken in 2022, all of them overwhelmingly negative. The hostilities, for example, continued to take a substantial toll, especially along the front lines, despite a widespread acknowledgement that the military objectives are out of line, as Mr. Pedersen said. In north-west Syria alone, at least 138 civilians were killed and 249 injured. The number of people who need humanitarian aid climbed to 14.6 million, which is an increase of more than 1.2 million compared to 2021.”
2022-12-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9230 (2022) · source
“In conclusion, our work is fraught with challenges. Millions of people need humanitarian assistance to survive. The figures I provided at the beginning of these remarks are shocking and need no repetition. The Council can be sure that, with its support, we will continue to do at least the necessary for those people in Afghanistan and for their future.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“We need $4.6 billion for the programme for next year to adequately address the country’s needs. Despite the many pressing global demands, we cannot underestimate the consequences of decreasing funding to operations in Afghanistan. And finally — and I particularly want to emphasize this — there has been a paucity of progress on restarting urgently needed development initiatives, without which the humanitarian situation is likely to further deteriorate, resulting in more people requiring emergency assistance. Saving lives is certainly our responsibility, but it is not ours alone, and I say that as a lifelong humanitarian. Development partners also save lives. They deliver basic services. Humanitarian programming cannot, and should not, be seen as the only acceptable channel through which the extraordinary suffering of Afghans is addressed.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Effective humanitarian assistance relies on the meaningful participation of women, as they stated. We cannot overstate the importance of their capacities, insight and ability to reach women and girls across the country. The second challenge relates to continued bank de-risking. The humanitarian exception has been a necessary, but still insufficient, condition for banks to fully restart international transactions to and from Afghanistan, given the range of non-sanction-related factors they have to take into account. While our partners report fewer challenges with transferring funds into Afghanistan than they did before the exception was secured, that remains a serious problem that will remain with us for some time. The third challenge is the daunting financial challenge we face as we enter 2023.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Otunbayeva, with de facto authorities, we also, as she has described, face routine interference and restrictions. They have detained humanitarian staff, tried to influence or control the humanitarian response and constrained women’s freedom of movement and involvement in humanitarian action. The mahram requirement, in particular, is what hampers women’s participation in humanitarian action the most and persistently affects women’s access to services. There have been concerning reports from Helmand province, among others, that women have been prevented from entering health facilities when they do not have a mahram. Members of the Security Council — again, as referenced by Ms. Otunbayeva — heard directly yesterday from Afghan women humanitarian workers.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Those also include routine post-distribution monitoring; the use of third-party monitors; community feedback mechanisms; regular site visits and field missions by both management and technical staff; and external audits to verify expenditures and check on cash distributions to local communities and beneficiaries. Earlier this year, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the Mission led by Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, invited an expert to help to strengthen the humanitarian community’s understanding and implementation of the humanitarian exception and to identify concrete measures to manage risks. Before I finish, I would like to share some of the challenges that we face. First, while we do maintain constructive engagement, as encouraged by Ms.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Those efforts with money service providers and with those who receive our assistance continue and include a review of the legal status, national and international registration documents, partnership agreements, policies on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing and reference checks. Council members can see me piling up the references to verification and compliance and mitigation, on top of pre-existing risk management processes, to which I have referred. We have put therefore multiple monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that assistance goes to the intended recipients.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Payments to the Customs and Revenue Department by United Nations-contracted commercial transporters, as well as the payments of fees for processing exemption certificates to the Customs and Revenue Department, have facilitated the entry of 1.1 million metric tons of life-saving food assistance. Electricity and payments to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation have allowed the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service to make more than 4,000 domestic and international flights in and out of Kabul this year, transporting more than 24,000 humanitarian workers to multiple locations across the country.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Thanks to the authorization provided by resolution 2615 (2021), we have been able to meet and match humanitarian needs and do so in a manner consistent with the instructions of the Security Council. For example, the leasing of State-owned warehouses from local municipalities has enabled the United Nations to maintain the food stocks needed to reach 22 million people over the course of this year. Those warehouses were a critical part of the United Nations supply chain network prior to August 2021, and there were no alternate facilities that could have been used, given the scale of monthly requirements.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Of note, customs charges are currently approximately $23 per container or shipment, which is same rate as during the previous Government. Let me be clear: failure to make some of the payments that I have been describing can have severe consequences for NGO partners, including the freezing of bank accounts, the shutting of offices and even de-registration. Recipient line ministries headed by listed indi- viduals include the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Another measure being utilized when supporting the functions of key line ministries that provide basic services is the direct contracting of utility companies that provide electricity or Internet, rather than giving funds via the line ministry. Likewise, for the daily charges the United Nations makes related to security escorts and perimeter protection, fuel is put directly into escort vehicles, and food allowances are made either in kind or through direct payment to the personnel providing the security. Due diligence assessments are conducted on all money service providers and implementing partners before partnering, and the signing of those contracts is contingent upon the successful screening of their directors, key personnel and other employees.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“In that regard, I would like to draw the Council member’s attention to what humanitarian partners have been doing to minimize risks. We have continued to implement and enhance robust risk management and due diligence measures. That includes a new system-wide approach to fraud detection, clunkily labelled the Contractor Information Management System, a centrally managed platform that feeds back to United Nations agencies in real time on the veracity of contractual partners and vendors. Several organizations have also created new functions in their operations, such as senior risk management and compliance advisers, to assist in a more proactive and engaged risk management.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“In that regard, I commend the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for its recent partnership agreement with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation in support of affected populations. That agreement, if fully implemented, helps to ensure that the de facto authorities do not interfere in the humanitarian activities of UNHCR or its partners. However, the humanitarian exception is no carte blanche for any operation. We are not transferring funds to line ministries in any excessive fashion. Ninety- eight per cent of the 66 organizations that reported making payments to line ministries — as required by law — are national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Those payments are in relatively nominal amounts and are to pay for tax on rent and withholding tax on national staff income.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Clearance fees paid to the Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority for the use of communications equipment, including high- frequency radios and satellite phones, has allowed operations to stay connected, particularly in hard-to reach and remote areas or where there is poor coverage, and, in a very limited number of cases, humanitarian organizations have provided line ministries with assets, including technical equipment, vehicles and office supplies in support of programme implementation. United Nations agencies in Afghanistan continue to identify ways to strengthen interventions in a responsible manner that safeguards humanitarian space.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“But first, I would like to make an important clarification. Transferring funds to line ministries for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan is not new. Since long before August 2021, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organization partners were required by law to pay taxes, administrative fees and public utilities. These could take the form of withholding tax on income, sales tax, property tax, fees for visas and work permits, vehicle registration duties, electricity and water bills, and customs payments for imported goods.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“A key component of the humanitarian exception was to clarify that the provision of funds or assets to designated persons or entities is permitted when it is necessary for humanitarian and basic human-needs programming. I cannot overstate how essential this legal cover has been for humanitarian and commercial actors alike. It allows us, the humanitarians, to implement at scale, and it authorizes our business and commercial partners, as a starting point, to process and pay funds to line ministries headed by designated individuals. To put it more clearly: it helps us and others to save lives. Resolution 2615 (2021) requires that I as the Emergency Relief Coordinator brief the Security Council on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, so allow me to share some updates.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“First, there was the massive scale-up, aided by the quick and generous donor response, which enabled us to reach around 25 million people in all 34 governorates with at least some form of assistance. Secondly, there is the United Nations cash facility, which has brought in at least $1.8 billion this year to support humanitarian operations. For one United Nations agency, by way of example, this has enabled the injection of well over $55 million into the economy each month, including by paying national staff salaries, hiring tens of thousands of staff in partner humanitarian organizations, and providing jobs for labourers. And thirdly, there is the humanitarian exception adopted by the Security Council in December 2021 in resolution 2615 (2021), which has played a critical facilitating role.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“And if lingering conflict, entrenched poverty, economic downfall — and I thank Special Representative Otunbayeva for her briefing on that matter also — and political instability were not enough, Afghanistan must also face a worsening climate crisis. A third consecutive drought is looming, bringing with it threats of more displacement, more disease and more death. Winter is already in full swing, causing temperatures to plummet. This week temperatures will drop to -10°C in remote areas of Ghor province, which earlier this year registered pre-famine conditions. The humanitarian community in Afghanistan is fully mobilized, trying to address the most urgent needs. Any progress we have made so far is thanks to three main factors.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: It is impossible to come up with new ways to describe the deprivation and suffering facing people in Afghanistan, so allow me to share some well- known, though still sobering, facts. Ninety-seven percent of Afghans live in poverty. Two thirds of the population need humanitarian assistance to survive. Twenty million people face acute hunger. Half of the people urgently need access to clean water and sanitation. Some 1.1 million teenage girls remain banned from school. Nearly 7 million Afghan nationals remain in neighbouring countries, including as refugees, and there are more than 3.4 million internally displaced people in Afghanistan who have yet to find a way home.”
2022-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9227 (2022) · source
“I conclude partly with the situation in Ukraine, of course, and the urgent needs that we are seeing as we move into winter and in the light of the damage to infrastructure and the potential for more displacement, but I place that within the larger context of a world gone mad, where 1 in 23 people around the globe are in need of humanitarian assistance. It is an unimaginable picture.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“At the beginning of 2022, 274 million people needed humanitarian assistance. For 2023, the projected number has grown to 339 million. That is an increase of approximately 24 per cent, with 65 million more people who have arrived on our doorstep. It represents 1 in every 23 people on the planet. As we have said publicly, that is equivalent to the population of the third-most populous country in the world. That is a record appeal, and it will be difficult to get the adequate funding. But it is also a stark reminder of how fast humanitarian needs are accelerating. That is especially true for Ukraine.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“In areas where the Government of Ukraine has recently regained control, the presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war is a major concern — both for communities and for the humanitarians who serve them — as they cause delays to, and impede the restoration of, essential services, including electricity. States must bolster their support for clearance to prevent further casualties due to landmines. That will ensure quicker, more effective access to livelihoods and essential services. Information on mines and used or abandoned explosive ordnance should be shared by those in the know at the earliest possible time. Last week, in Geneva, I launched the Global Humanitarian Overview 2023, which is our annual assessment of global humanitarian needs for next year and how to respond to them.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“Today, of the 13.5 million people who have received assistance since February, 1 million of them are in areas outside of the Government of Ukraine’s control. They have been reached thanks to humanitarian partners still positioned in areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, where humanitarian operations began in 2014 as a result of the invasion. While we continue to provide support in those regions through those local partners — and there are still international staff in those areas — our response is neither regular nor at the right scale. Under international humanitarian law, all parties should allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need and must ensure that humanitarian personnel have the freedom of movement required for their work.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“More must be done, of course, to continue to close the funding shortfall. We will soon be issuing plans for 2023. While there have been improvements, as I have said, in humanitarian access, the biggest challenge remains impediments to reaching areas in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. Discussions continue between the United Nations and the parties to facilitate unimpeded access to those areas. It is vital that we get the convoys through to deliver relief items. As we have discussed previously in this Chamber, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has a presence in Moscow, and I continue to personally engage key interlocutors for access in meetings in Moscow, Kyiv and elsewhere.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“It is very difficult to imagine, but 765,000 children have received psychosocial support to help them deal with the effects of war and displacement. Mobile teams are operating in centres for internally displaced persons and identifying, registering, assessing and providing direct support to children with protection needs. None of that would be possible without the unprecedented support from Member States and other donors to the Ukraine flash appeal. As a result of that generosity, to date we have received $3.1 billion of the $4.3 billion requested through the end of the year. To date, we have transferred almost $1 billion in humanitarian cash transfers to approximately than 4.3 million people. Cash as a mode of delivery has reached maturity in the case of the tragic events in Ukraine.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“In Kherson, for example, convoys have delivered much-needed potable water for thousands of civilians, medical supplies to treat 100,000 people for up to three months and assistance for women and girls’ reproductive health. And food assistance has been delivered in Kherson for nearly 100,000 civilians. Humanitarians working to respond to gender- based violence, including in particular local women’s organizations, are also seeking to scale up the delivery of essential services for their clients. An integrated network of spaces and providers has been delivering survivor-centred services for women, girls, boys and men who have been subject to gender-based violence. Those efforts and activities, which began when the war started, continue.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“Since October, the sustained attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have created a new level of need that impacts the whole country and increases and exacerbates the needs caused by the war. The scale of the destruction of the electrical and heating infrastructure requires the international community’s enhanced support to the Government of Ukraine beyond what humanitarians can provide. Indeed, discussions to that end are ongoing in Kyiv and elsewhere. In recent weeks, more areas have become accessible in eastern and southern oblasts, thereby allowing humanitarians to reach entirely new communities with assistance. We are grateful for that. Our teams are responding, and inter-agency convoys are moving to bring aid to areas where Ukraine has recently regained control.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“Our work is to safeguard lives and preserve dignity. The humanitarian community remains committed to stay and deliver. Almost 690 humanitarian partners — the majority of which are local front-line organizations — continue to provide life-critical aid and protection to 13.5 million people in Ukraine — I do not apologize for this stream of really terrifying statistics. Those people continue to work against the clock to support civilians. Over the past few months, in preparation for the winter, humanitarians have provided more than 630,000 civilians with different kinds of direct winter assistance, and 400 generators have been distributed to critical facilities.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“As a result of the attacks on civilian infrastructure, people are being deprived of health care, and children of education. In Ukraine today, the ability of civilians to survive is under attack. Amid freezing temperatures and destruction, people at the highest risk are the already vulnerable — among them the elderly, those with disabilities and the many millions displaced — essentially because of a lack of essential services. International humanitarian law speaks for itself: objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population must be protected. Constant care must be taken to spare civilians and civilian objects throughout all military operations. Gender-based violence targeting women and girls continues to be pervasive and — to be very clear — the number of cases continues to be underreported.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“The World Health Organization reports at least 715 attacks on health care in the country, including 630 that impacted health facilities and 61 that affected personnel. Those attacks in Ukraine represent more than 70 per cent of all attacks on health-care infrastructure reported worldwide this year. Since February, 1,148 children have been killed or injured, while millions have fled, been uprooted from their homes, separated from their families or put at risk of violence. Winter has now arrived across Ukraine. Temperatures are already below freezing and are expected to drop to below -20°C. The attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including power stations and heating plants, have left millions of people without access to heat, electricity and water, adding another dangerous dimension to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I thank you, Madam President, for the opportunity to speak here on this very important occasion on issues of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. If I may, our briefing today will focus on the widespread death, destruction, displacement and suffering caused by this senseless war, ongoing humanitarian operations and the challenges that the humanitarian community continues to face. Over 14 million people remain forcibly displaced from their homes in Ukraine, including 6.5 million internally displaced persons and over 7.8 million others across Europe. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of 1 December, 17,023 civilians had been killed since 24 February 2022, including 419 children. However, I think we all know that the real toll is far greater.”
2022-12-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9208 (2022) · source
“I return, in conclusion, to the points made by my colleague and friend Special Envoy Geir Pedersen. What the people of Syria want is to see me go and him to arrive, to see the need for aid to disappear and the arrival of peace to be celebrated among them and shared by them. That is the principal task and the raison d’être of the Security Council, and we must hope that we will soon see those things happen.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“Another harsh winter, which is soon to be with us, will soon bring snowstorms, cold weather, strong winds, rains and flooding to millions of families who live in tents, who have lived there for years, who know what is coming but have no way to avoid it. We could go on with more examples, but that is not the purpose of this briefing. Today we are exactly six weeks away from yet another expiration of the authorization by the Security Council of cross-border assistance, for which we are grateful. As I have said before each time, cross-line deliveries can — and should and must and will — be an important complement to cross-border operations, and we hope to see further progress in those operations as well. Cross-border operations remain essential nonetheless for the lives of the more than 4 million people who now live in the north-west.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“As we know only too well, disease knows no borders. People in Syria struggle a little bit more every day to put food on the table. Skyrocketing global food prices have hit them particularly hard, since the country is highly dependent on the import of essential commodities — a supply chain now imperilled by events elsewhere. Supply chain disruptions for key staples, such as wheat and vegetable oil, as well as high inflation rates, have further contributed to the surge in food prices, which have also been affected by the increase in transport costs due to energy price increases. And the price of the World Food Programme’s standard food basket has increased fourfold in the past two years. Prices for most commodities in it climbed by no less than 40 per cent this year alone — I repeat, a 40 per cent increase in staples this year alone.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“Pedersen — I will not repeat what he said — I am equally horrified by the death of two girls, 12 and 15 years old, in Al-Hol camp. Life there is a misery, but their death is a tragedy. Insufficient rainfall and severe drought- like conditions combined with low water levels in the Euphrates River, as well as damaged water infrastructure, continue to deprive millions of people of safe drinking water — that is as good an example as one will get anywhere of the consequences of conflict and climate change coming together. We have consistently alerted the Security Council to the water crisis in northern Syria and have discussed it in this Chamber. The current rapid spread of cholera, a waterborne disease, should therefore come as no surprise, and neither should the fact that cholera has also seeped into Lebanon.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“Only last week, air strikes struck close to a clinic of the Bab Al-Hawa hospital, causing damage and leading to the evacuation of at least 90 patients who were receiving care in that hospital, as well as aid and health workers and other civilians. The recent hostilities in the north-west and north-east of Syria, as Mr. Pedersen noted, have had a detrimental impact on civilian lives and critical civilian infrastructure, which is of course protected in principle by international humanitarian law. Civilians have fled their homes in both Aleppo and Al-Hasakah governorates. Some humanitarian services had to be temporarily suspended. I repeat, as I always do, that all parties must take care to spare civilians and civilian objects throughout their military operations, please. Like Mr.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“And as I have said in this Chamber many times, we continue to fail them in that respect each month, each year, a little bit more, as the gap between needs and funding continues to grow. Communities in Syria are caught in the middle of extremes. They have lived through a cataclysm. They are struggling to survive. Earlier this month, as Mr. Pedersen so clearly outlined, shelling, air strikes and clashes in the vicinity of Idlib city destroyed the homes of hundreds of displaced families in three camps supported by humanitarian organizations. At least nine civilians were killed and 75 were injured, including children. More than 400 families were displaced in that attack alone.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“We need to focus our attention back on the people of Syria and re-evaluate how effectively we meet even the most basic of their needs, while taking into account the alarming concerns that Mr. Pedersen shared with us today. The trend is clear: more people need our support each year to survive. The slight ray of hope that emerged in 2017, when the number of people in need started to decline, has quickly been erased since 2020. We expect to see a surge in the number of people needing humanitarian assistance — from 14.6 million this year to more than 15 million in 2023. In other words, almost 12 years since the conflict in Syria started, 80 per cent of the country’s population depend on aid.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I want to say that the force of Mr. Pedersen’s words absolutely gives us a context for today’s discussion. I am very grateful to him for that. The Council has heard me or my Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, brief members on the humanitarian situation in Syria for the past year at least once a month. My statements are completely predictable. I tend to speak about numbers — the number of trucks crossing lines, the number of early-recovery projects implemented and where they are situated and how many jobs are created. Those are technical details. Everyone has heard our responses to the questions in last week’s informal interactive dialogue, and of course I will not repeat them today.”
2022-11-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9204 (2022) · source
“I therefore have a simple message. Let us keep the supply line open. Let us keep the Initiative in action. Let us resolve our differences with all speed. The Initiative is too important to fail.”
2022-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9176 (2022) · source
“Today emergency measures were taken to release some of the cargo from Ukrainian ports and inspect some of the 100 vessels that are queued up and ready to go. We need to continue fulfilling our commitments and acting in concert, as before. Our understanding is that the Initiative and commitments remain in force even during the suspension of Russia’s participation. Today 12 ships sailed out of Ukrainian ports, and two headed in to load food. All those ships were previously inspected by the full membership of the Joint Coordination Centre. As an example, one ship headed south through the corridor is the IKARIA ANGEL, with 30,000 tons of World Food Programme (WFP) wheat for Ethiopia. Another, the PANGEO, passed inspection on its onward journey full of wheat destined for Yemen and Afghanistan, and the next WFP vessel is on its way.”
2022-10-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9176 (2022) · source