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

“Every effort must be made to de-escalate the conflict for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have taken the decision to leave their homes to seek safety elsewhere in their country or beyond, and for the even greater number who remain in peril due to the loss of basic services, pensions, support and the services that their children need, and of the safety of a day that may or may not come. Finally, I reiterate the Secretary-General’s calls for the only thing that we must all pray for, which is an immediate cessation of hostilities.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Grandi, our NGO colleagues and me, will all call on Member States to show support with quick, generous and flexible funding. Cash will be a major source for the delivery of humanitarian assistance given the particular circumstances that obtain in Ukraine. However, that is certainly not enough. Simply put, the lives of millions of civilians are at stake. We know from other recent conflicts how brutal, deadly and protracted urban warfare can be. We know how countries’ economies can be devastated and infrastructure investment and development gains set back an entire generation, and we know enough to know that we do not yet know what the consequences of the events that we are observing today will be. These things should never happen, in any country, anywhere.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Even now, even today, even yesterday, we should be providing that protection to those workers so that they can do the job that they want to do. Under international humanitarian law, all parties must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need and must ensure freedom of movement for humanitarian actors, a point we have been making in many different ways for the past four days. Secondly, of course, we desperately need more resources. Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will launch a humanitarian appeal for this crisis with two components — a three-month flash appeal for the situation inside the country and a regional response plan for the situation outside under the leadership of Filippo Grandi and his Office. The Secretary-General, together with Mr.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Today our most pressing humanitarian needs are for emergency medical services, including sexual and reproductive health services, critical medicines, health supplies and equipment, safe water for drinking and hygiene and shelter and protection for the displaced. In all, 119 humanitarian organizations are operating in Ukraine and have been able to provide some form of humanitarian assistance, but over the past few days their efforts have clearly been hampered. Right now, we urgently need progress on two fronts if we are to reach more people with the aid that they need and deserve. First, we need assurances from the parties to the conflict that humanitarian workers and their movement will be protected, even when the conflict is at its most severe. We cannot wait for the conflict to subside.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“I was fortunate enough to receive the beginning of some assurances to that effect only this evening. We must hope that becomes a reality. In the meantime, as usual, local organizations and institutions are doing the truly remarkable job that they do in all such situations — responding to needs. Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Ukrainian Red Cross are working tirelessly to support civilians and evacuation operations. Health workers are working day and night to care for the injured. Aid organizations are providing psychosocial support to traumatized children and delivering first-aid kits. And we are all here this afternoon to support their efforts.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“And it goes without saying that humanitarian needs are now much greater, including those resulting from the large-scale displacement to which I have already referred, across and beyond the entire country and not in one region alone. Humanitarian workers are doing their best to respond. The United Nations has expanded its humanitarian presence in Ukraine, and we will continue to do so. We are working to ensure that we can scale up our operations as quickly as possible, and we have been preparing for this for some time. However, I must say that for the past three days our movements — that is, the movements of our dear colleagues in Ukraine — have been seriously constrained as a result of the ongoing fighting and our inability to receive assurances from parties to the conflict that humanitarian movement will be protected.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“The longer this goes on, the greater the cost will be for civilians. Children will miss school and face a greater risk of physical harm, displacement and unimaginably severe emotional distress. Women, so often disproportionately affected by conflict, as we have so often discussed in this Chamber, will be at even greater risk of gender-based violence. Women and children may be exposed to other forms of exploitation. The economy of Ukraine could implode, which will further exacerbate humanitarian needs and create a ripple effect far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Already the upheavals in recent days are deepening a pre-existing humanitarian crisis. Eight gruelling years of conflict in eastern Ukraine had already left 3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance on both sides of the contact line in the Donbas region.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Aerial attacks and fighting in urban areas are damaging critical civilian facilities and disrupting essential services such as health, electricity, water and sanitation, in effect leaving civilians without the basics for day-to-day life. Bridges and roads have been destroyed, cutting off people’s access to critical supplies and services. The use of explosive weapons in urban areas carries a high risk of indiscriminate impact, which is of particular concern in places such as Kyiv and Kharkiv, since civilians will undeservedly suffer the most from such attacks on densely populated urban centres. All parties must respect international humanitarian law, take constant care to spare all civilians and civilian objects from harm throughout their military operations and avoid the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“We know — and of course we will hear much more from Mr. Grandi — that at least 160,000 people have been internally displaced across Ukraine, fleeing for safety, and we know that figure is likely to be much higher, potentially a significant proportion of the entire population. As Mr. Grandi will tell the Council, we believe that more than half a million refugees have been forced to choose to flee their country in search of safety. Families have been separated. The elderly and people with disabilities find themselves trapped and unable to flee, unable to get even that small comfort. The picture is grim and could get worse still.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: Mr. President, I am speaking to you from Geneva. Wherever we are in the world, we have all been watching the military offensive in Ukraine with a sense of disbelief and horror. As we all feared, civilians are already paying the price. The scale of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure — even in these very early days — is alarming. Humanitarian needs are growing at an alarming pace in the hardest- hit areas. Civilian children, women and men have been injured and killed. Homes have been damaged and sometimes destroyed. As of yesterday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had reported at least 406 civilian casualties, including at least 102 dead in these few days. The real figure could be considerably higher, since many reported casualties have yet to be confirmed.”
2022-02-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8983 (2022) · source
“Finally — and the Council will not find this surprising — I want to stress that the best thing anyone could do for the people of Yemen would be to find a just, lasting end to the war. That is no small feat, as I know well. Therefore, I want to offer my unqualified support for everything Special Envoy Grundberg has just said and for all the work he is doing under exceptionally difficult circumstances, as I should know well.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“That includes foreign-exchange injections, which the Government of Yemen is working hard with its partners to secure, as well as policy changes, such as resuming civilian flights through Sana’a airport, lifting restrictions on commercial imports and using import revenues to pay public sector salaries. It pains me to refer once again to those measures, which we have needed for so long and for which we are still waiting. Paying those salaries will also help preserve basic services. Finding one’s way out of a crisis and making one’s way in the world is nearly impossible if one is too sick, too hungry or undereducated. Like economic support, preserving basic services is key to reducing humanitarian needs.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“We are also keenly aware that people’s survival cannot rely only on the ebbs and flows of humanitarian funding cycles. A more sustainable approach, as Special Envoy Grundberg mentioned, is both necessary and achievable. As we have said before, the international community must come together to address the underlying drivers of need in Yemen, especially the collapsing economy. The United Nations economic framework offers a path forward in that regard. It brings together initiatives that could make an immediate difference in boosting incomes, reducing prices and enhancing macroeconomic stability.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“Last week, I released another $20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to shore up operations around Ma’rib — the second time we have done so this year. The WFP, meanwhile, has exhausted its internal loan mechanisms to keep its programmes going a bit longer. None of those are sustainable solutions. We obviously cannot let the aid operation in Yemen fall apart, so I am very grateful to the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland for co-hosting, with the United Nations, a high-level pledging event for Yemen to be held on 16 March. The Secretary-General has made it clear to me and to all of us how willing, open and wanting he is to intervene to remove that funding gap. I implore all donors to use that opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to the people of Yemen.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“Programmes to combat gender-based violence and promote reproductive health are also on the chopping block, as are a range of critical activities in the health, shelter and other sectors. The Council has heard aid agencies warn about funding shortages in the past. I have listened to my predecessor speak in the Council along those lines. But the scale of the current gaps is unprecedented in Yemen. We have never before contemplated giving millions of hungry people no food at all or suspending the flights we need to get aid workers and supplies into, around and out of the country. If those gaps are not addressed, it will simply be a death sentence for people whose coping mechanisms are in some cases completely exhausted and who rely on assistance for their survival. Agencies are doing what they can.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“By the end of January, nearly two thirds of major United Nations aid programmes had already scaled back or closed altogether. In December, the World Food Programme (WFP) reduced food rations for 8 million people. Starting next month, those 8 million people may get no food at all, if not a reduced ration. In March, we may also have to cancel most United Nations humanitarian flights in Yemen, which would cause enormous problems for the aid operation and the movement of our staff. There is, it seems, no money. Looming disruptions to water and sanitation services — again, for want of funds — could soon deprive 3.6 million people of safe drinking water, which would put them, and especially children under the age of 5, at greater risk of deadly diseases.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“We are all working urgently to secure their immediate release, with support from the Government of Yemen. Those kinds of incidents are, of course, utterly unacceptable. The three United Nations workers who were arrested several months ago — two in Sana’a in November and one in Ma’rib in December — also remain in detention. I believe the one in Ma’rib may have just recently been released, which I very much appreciate. However, by far the biggest challenge for aid agencies right now is funding. The humanitarian operation, which has been a lifeline for millions of people across Yemen over so many years, is about to start doing a lot less. Aid agencies are quickly running out of money, forcing them to slash life-saving programmes.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“On a separate note, I am also pleased to report recent progress in efforts to resolve the FSO SAFER tanker issue, including an agreement in principle to a United Nations-coordinated proposal to shift the oil to another ship. However, as we have said before, working in Yemen is often much harder than it should be. Access impediments remain one major problem. Aid workers face far too many restrictions, including a lack of facilitation of their presence, movements and activities. Visas, notifications and other routine processes have all created challenges recently. International humanitarian law requires all parties to facilitate access and ensure freedom of movement for humanitarian workers. Security challenges have also persisted. Last week, armed men abducted five United Nations staff on official mission in Abyan governorate.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“As he did, I urge the parties to uphold those obligations and I call for accountability for any serious violation. The recent escalation is the latest turn in a conflict that has dragged on for seven years. Yemen has become a protracted crisis. A generation of children is growing up with no thought other than war. Throughout the crisis, humanitarian partners have done everything they can to reduce people’s suffering. In 2021, nearly 200 organizations worked together through the United Nations response plan to assist more than 11 million people every month and those programmes are reaching every one of Yemen’s 330 districts — the entire country.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“More than 650 civilian casualties were reported in January, which means that on average 21 civilians were killed or injured every day by air strikes, shelling, small-arms fire and other violence — by far the highest toll in at least three years. The war is finding people in their homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and other places where civilians should be protected. On 21 January, an air strike hit a detention facility in Sa’ada, killing or injuring more than 300 detainees. Cross-border attacks have also intensified, killing, injuring and threatening civilians in the region. As Hans Grundberg has said, international humanitarian law very clearly requires all parties to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality and take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: You will understand, Sir, if I start by saying what a privilege and pleasure it is to be sitting next to Hans Grundberg in this Chamber. I know that, like all of us, you wish him all the best. Much of what I will say will echo and mirror his own remarks. The war in Yemen and the wider crisis that it has unleashed, as we have heard, continue to threaten millions of lives across the country and for now that crisis shows no sign of abating. As Hans Grundberg has so aptly described, we have seen over the past six weeks a sharp and dangerous escalation of the conflict, with devastating consequences for civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
2022-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8966 (2022) · source
“That gives confidence that humanitarian resources are used to provide assistance to those who need it and not for any other purpose; it is the essence of principled humanitarian action. I have frequently used the words “can” and “may” in these remarks, and I emphasize that the worries that we have are often about the unintended consequences of the chilling effect of sanctions where action is needed. I think that action is beginning to be taken more often. It is indeed our collective responsibility to ensure that sanctions can be used to improve compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law and, equally, to ensure that they do not have those unintended consequences for civilians already caught up in humanitarian crises.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“I welcome proactive efforts to build confidence — for example, the European Union’s recent letters of comfort, which provide reassurance to financial institutions. We also saw that recently from the United States Administration with regard to Afghanistan. I recall the United States guidance that incidental payments and cases of aid diversion to Al-Shabaab in Somalia would not be a focus for sanctions enforcement, which was most welcome. For their own part, humanitarian agencies can also boost confidence by investing in risk management and due diligence. Operations in Syria’s north-west — so often discussed in the Chamber — are highly monitored, as the Council knows.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“Sanctions should not have cascading secondary implications that go beyond the focus of the action. The Security Council and other jurisdictions implementing sanctions should build comprehensive humanitarian carveouts into the original legislation from the outset, rather than through case-by-case authorization procedures, which can be cumbersome and inefficient. Carveouts should be smoothly translated into national legislation to lessen the concerns of humanitarian donors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private companies. We saw that recently with the United Kingdom’s very welcome swift domestication of the United Nations carveout regarding Afghanistan, which provides broad reassurances to United Kingdom NGOs and their partners. However, implementation is sometimes as important as design, to which I just referred.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“As we know, a great deal of work and attention have gone into rectifying precisely that situation. We are much better off now that we were. Mitigating the humanitarian impact of sanctions therefore requires us to continue to review both the way in which sanctions are designed and how they are implemented and impact. I would like to suggest some priorities. I urge the Security Council and States Members of the United Nations to ensure that sanctions applicable in armed conflict do not impede the assistance and protection activities of impartial humanitarian organizations for persons who are not fighting, irrespective of their allegiance or designation. In all contexts, they should ensure that sanctions do not restrict the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to food, water, shelter and health.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“But, as we have said so vividly in the case of Afghanistan, those cannot substitute for commercial imports and basic State services. Finally, when ministries and departments are run by listed individuals, sanctions aimed at political movements and figures can limit the provision of social services and economic stability. In Afghanistan, neither the Central Bank nor any Government entity is sanctioned. Nevertheless, the risk that sanctioned actors may benefit from transactions led financial institutions in that case to effectively blacklist the Afghan financial and commercial sectors. The same chilling effect led many internationally funded projects to pause, withholding, for example, the payment of teachers and hospital workers via ministry accounts.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“Broad exemptions — for example, those that we now have on Afghanistan, adopted by the Security Council and by some States — have provided essential reassurances to humanitarian organizations. However, as we again heard from Ms. DiCarlo in the context of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, service providers and financial flows can remain throttled due to overcompliance and de-risking. Thirdly, commercial operators that trade food, fuel and other necessities can also decide to err on the side of caution, or overcomply. That can lead to shortages and price rises. That is especially disastrous in fragile countries already heavily dependent on food imports and experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Humanitarian carveouts, as we now have on Afghanistan, can allow us to continue our programmes for those at greatest risk.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“First, humanitarian access and principles can be put under pressure by the demands of sanctions. Sanctions can make it harder for humanitarian agencies to engage and transact with listed individuals or entities that hold significant control over the lives of entire populations. In addition, humanitarian independence, neutrality and, ultimately, impartiality can be undermined — for example, by demands to vet and, potentially, exclude individual recipients of humanitarian aid. Secondly, banks and other commercial operators, aiming to avoid any risk of penalty or prosecution, can effectively deny services to humanitarian customers. They may sever commercial relationships or make routine transactions excessively slow and bureaucratic, even when they are well within the permitted rules.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“In Somalia and, as mentioned, now in Afghanistan, the United Nations sanctions regimes have shown themselves able to adapt and carve out space for humanitarian activities to continue. Those are two very welcome examples. Despite the attention to such risks and frequent dialogue with the humanitarian community, United Nations sanctions can nevertheless have negative consequences for civilians and humanitarian operations. Sanctions applied by Member States carry similar risks and, in fact, often have a wider reach than sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Allow me to summarize some concerns over the use of sanctions in countries already affected by humanitarian crises, where already civilians are vulnerable and institutions frequently fragile.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“We have seen cases where sanctions can positively impact compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. As Ms. DiCarlo mentioned, the threat of sanctions has pushed a number of non-State armed groups to release children from their ranks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. United Nations sanctions are also designed to limit unintended consequences, and I welcome the Council’s clear consistent signals that they are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences. I also welcome the Council regular reaffirming that measures to implement sanctions need to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. That should translate into ensuring that sanctions do not indeed impede exclusively humanitarian activities when conducted by impartial humanitarian actors.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“However smart and however targeted they are, compliance with sanctions is a daily element in the work of humanitarian agencies. They can impact our logistics, our finances and our ability to deliver. They can have such impacts. They can lead to humanitarian projects delaying or stalling. Some can threaten the well-being of a wider section of the population in civilian society. I therefore welcome this opportunity to provide a perspective on how sanctions can affect humanitarian needs and our response. United Nations sanctions and many of those enacted by Member States are not the blunt instruments of the past, as we heard clearly from Ms. DiCarlo. I stand with her on all her assertions. As we also heard, the Security Council moved from broad economic and sectoral sanctions to more targeted sanctions in the 1990s.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I thank you very much, Sir, for the opportunity to speak to the members of the Security Council today on this very important issue. I respect the weighty responsibility that the Council holds under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. It is the Council’s vital prerogative to devise measures under Article 41 in the pursuit of international peace and security, as we just heard so clearly from Rosemary DiCarlo. I thank the Council for its recent decision to confirm exemptions that have however allowed humanitarian operations to continue in Afghanistan, again as we just heard, through resolution 2615 (2021), adopted only in December. Sanctions are a fact of life in many humanitarian relief operations. They affect our operations directly and indirectly, as well as civilians, even when those impacts are unintended.”
2022-02-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8962 (2022) · source
“We need to reach more people with immediate life-saving assistance. We need to scale up early-recovery programmes, and we will play our part in that. Such programmes offer a pathway to more self-sufficiency and the possibility of basic services for those families who must have them but so often do not.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“Each month, the United Nations and its partners deliver food and other critical items for millions of people in the north-west of Syria — people who need our support and deserve it. Through that support, people can see a doctor, get essential medicine and send their children to school. As the Secretary- General stated in his report on resolution 2585 (2021) (S/2021/1029) in December, our cross-border operation is one of the most closely monitored operations in the world. We know what the needs are, what aid is being delivered and where aid is going. As if it needs repeating, civilians need food, medicine and other life-saving items. They need access to basic services. They need a chance to live a dignified life. They need protection from harm. To achieve that, we need to expand access. We need the funds to sustain humanitarian operations.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“As we discussed at our last meeting on this issue in December (see S/PV.8937), two cross-line operations have been completed and a third is expected to take place soon, in line with the six-month plan that we discussed earlier. I urge ongoing support from all here to ensure that timely and predictable deliveries continue. I thank the authorities responsible for those permissions for the actions they have taken. Distribution of that aid also continues. Food delivered cross-line has reached more than 40,000 people again this month. These developments are positive, and we must use all avenues to reach those in need. However, let me reiterate that cross-line operations do not replace the size or the scope of the massive cross-border operation at this point.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“The food aid we provide to millions of people each month is just not enough. However, despite the daunting circumstances and the sad and tragic picture that I have been trying to depict, we can continue to make a difference with smart funding and creative humanitarian efforts. For example, we run early recovery projects to support food production so that we can reduce dependency on food aid. FAO is expanding irrigation projects along the Euphrates river, specifically with such an objective in mind. Expanding early recovery projects — and we have seen reference to them in resolution 2585 (2021) — is crucial. We continue to reach people in need in north- western Syria through cross-line deliveries.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“We could and should get them the support they need and a different kind of housing, even if it is temporary. But with our current funding, we can help only half of the over 4 million people across Syria who need protection from the elements and the basics of survival. Meanwhile, the economic crisis continues to deepen. Food is getting ever more expensive. The cost of an average food basket has reached new highs in every one of the past four months. Domestic food production is also a concern. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that wheat production dropped by over 60 per cent in 2021 — a single year. While needs are increasing, international aid resources are declining, despite the generosity of many member States represented here, including your own, Madam President.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“Above all, we need durable solutions for the people living in the camps, including the safe repatriation of all third-country nationals, first and foremost children. I reiterate a simple message. Civilians, especially children, and civilian objects must be protected. On top of the effects of conflict, unusually bitter winter storms last week left a trail of destruction. Thousands of tents, in which people have been living for so many years, were damaged in camps in the north- west. Displaced people are burning garbage to stay warm, and risk asphyxiation sheltering from sub-zero temperatures in those tents. One child was reported to have died when snow collapsed a tent. I cannot imagine that. In the last month, at least 24 people have been injured and two have died due to tent fires. People should not have to suffer like this every winter.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“On 20 January, six civilians, including four children, were killed when missiles landed in Afrin city. The support systems for everyday life are at risk. Another airstrike in early January severely damaged the main water station servicing Idlib city. The appalling attack on a prison in Al-Hasakah in recent days and its aftermath are another vivid reminder — if we needed one — of how volatile other parts of the country still are. It is also a chilling reminder of the threat of the Islamic States in Iraq and the Sham. In Al-Hol camp, meanwhile, violence continues. On 11 January, a Syrian health worker was killed. Another doctor was injured the next day, as we all know. We need to do better to keep camp residents and humanitarian workers safe.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“Others are stuck in displacement camps or detention facilities with little hope of getting out. And millions more, lucky enough to have housing and to be with their families, are still missing out on a healthy diet and reliable schooling. As the country moves further into its second decade of conflict, and as I have said before, we are failing the Syrian people, young and old. If civilians were protected, sufficient relief provided and basic social services kept going, we could say that we are providing a bare minimum. But we are not even managing that, I regret to say. Failure each year cannot be our strategy. This year, we have to lighten the load on Syrian civilians. I urge Council members to work with the United Nations and key humanitarian agencies on a new approach. Hotspots in the conflict continue to claim civilian lives.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“Mr. Griffiths: I start by saying how extremely concerned we are — and I am sure we all are — about the hundreds of children trapped in a terrifying prison siege in Al-Hasakah. It is critical that all children be accounted for, evacuated to safety and supported. But even if they leave the prison, their future is uncertain. They are not out of danger. Their chance of a family life or of a return to any kind of normal is remote. They need to recover, reintegrate into their communities and rebuild their lives. As Henrietta Fore of UNICEF has said, the children in that prison should never have been there in the first place. Their predicament, if I may, echoes that of the whole country. It should never have been in the situation we see now. Many more Syrian girls and boys are shivering in tents in the snow.”
2022-01-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8957 (2022) · source
“There must be support for life-saving aid, especially as people in Syria endure this winter, early-recovery aid, the safe and voluntary return of refugees — if we can make that happen — and, finally, access to all in need. We will work in lockstep with Mr. Pedersen and his colleagues as we go into 2022 to identify ways in which we can support his mission, because it is quite clear to us all that only an end to this conflict will really meet the needs of the people of Syria.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“We have seen real progress on early recovery, and I am encouraged by the growing donor consensus on the need for, and priority of, that kind of expenditure. I expect that to further increase in 2022. I have also called on the United Nations system to increase its identification of relevant projects available for such funding. We heard from Mr. Pedersen about the plight of Syria, but also, as he carefully and precisely put it, some hopes for next year that we must work on. I associate myself with everything that Mr. Pedersen said about the fact that the essential quality of the humanitarian requirement for the people of Syria requires us to hope and to adopt, as he described, a step-by-step approach to meeting those needs and giving the people of Syria a future. Civilians must be protected.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“That is a story that can, and should, be repeated throughout Syria. The Secretary-General’s report identifies our increasing focus on that aspect of the response to the needs of the Syrian people. The United Nations is currently completing an allocation of approximately $20 million to early-recovery activities from the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund. The Syria Humanitarian Fund, which provides assistance to those in other parts of the country, allocated 40 per cent of its budget to enhancing community resilience. The good news is that donors are increasing their engagement in early recovery. We are grateful for such additional support that Member States recently provided, including the recent support from Norway of $17 million.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“They want jobs to earn a living; they want their basic needs met; and they want a future. Working at the local level, through investment in early recovery we can ensure that basic services can be provided in a manner that is equitable, responsive and accountable to affected populations. To take just one example, a midwifery project of the United Nations Population Fund in rural Aleppo addresses the massive need for trained health-care workers. In that project, a training facility was rehabilitated to broaden access to maternal health care, and midwives were trained and received essential equipment — a simple process that is repeated daily throughout the world of aid. Those midwives helped nearly 800 pregnant women safely deliver their babies in the past year. In turn, the midwives were able to make a living to support their own families.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“That limits access to water for over half a million people. The economy continues its downward trajectory. Food costs more now than at any time since the World Food Programme started monitoring such costs in 2013. Many families — and this is an extraordinary assessment — spend on average 50 per cent more on basic items than they earn each month and are. And, of course, they are forced to rely on credit, loans and help. It should be obvious that that is simply not sustainable. Immediate life-saving activities therefore remain a priority, but we must also help the people in Syria chart their own course towards a better future. As is emphasized in resolution 2585 (2021), early recovery is another critical aspect of the humanitarian response. Beyond food, people in Syria are the same as people anywhere.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“As I said, we are failing in our responsibilities to the people of Syria. The coronavirus disease, on which I am sure we will hear more in a minute, continues to wreak havoc across Syria, with vaccination rates, as we have discussed before, below 5 per cent. Women of course bear the impact of that disproportionately. Over 5 million people do not have sufficient and safe water in northern Syria. Food security, access to electricity and livelihoods are also impacted and, as they are connected, exponentially so in terms of how they impact each another. We continue to build on our constructive dialogue with parties — I am happy to say — to find a sustainable solution for the Allouk water station. After two months of sustained engagement and operation, the station has functioned again, however only intermittently, since 26 November.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“I have said it before on many occasions and I will say it again: we continue to fail the Syrian people in what they need, what they deserve and what they are entitled to in terms of humanitarian assistance and protection. Violence continues to kill and injure civilians. For example, on 11 November, a reported air strike hit a shelter in northern rural Idlib, killing five civilians, of whom three were children. As I say to the Council every month, civilians must be protected, and they are legally entitled to that protection. As winter sets in, millions of people are in the cold. Internally displaced persons living in temporary tents are especially vulnerable. I regret to say that the humanitarian operation simply does not have sufficient funds to provide basic shelter, heating and warm clothes to all those in need.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“We will continue to do everything in our power to facilitate those cross-line convoys, with a convoy once a month and deliveries every week. I call upon all parties to facilitate, not block, the implementation of our plan. As the Secretary-General has said, cross-line deliveries cannot, at this point, replace the massive scale of our cross-border operation, but they are important. Both those operations are essential to support the 3.4 million people in need in the north-west. Let me turn to my monthly humanitarian update. I am sure that Ms. Amani Ballour, who will give a briefing after me, will speak much more vividly and clearly to those issues, among others. As Mr. Pedersen has said, as the year ends, the situation for people in Syria remains grim. Humanitarian needs have grown, while funding has shrunk.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source
“But an agreement needs to be reached on who would be involved in conducting cross-line convoys and who would be authorized to distribute the aid. All of that, as you know, Mr. President, has taken time. We also need and rely on the necessary security guarantees by all the relevant parties to ensure the safety of our convoys and personnel. On 16 December, distributions of food through a local World Food Programme team commenced under a newly established distribution mechanism. We will continue to push for distributions to proceed apace. We need to collectively translate the initial progress into more predictable and sustained humanitarian operations and, as we have discussed in this Chamber before, the six-month plan that we have developed to achieve that predictability.”
2021-12-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8937 (2021) · source