YouSaid · the spoken record

Obrien

lines on the record: 875
first: 2010-06-29
most recent: 2017-08-30
sittings or episodes: 46
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

“Mr. O'Brien: It does not need me to tell each and every one of the members of the Security Council that the impact of five long years of conflict in Syria defies understanding, let alone description. The human toll and suffering are sickening and obscene in that senseless fight Where there is nothing much left to gain. Hundreds of thousands are dead. Millions have been displaced. Countless families have been torn apart and towns decimated. Basic infrastructure is destroyed. For many who are merely surviving, life is miserable. Deliberately deprived of food and medicine, many face the most appalling conditions of desolation, hunger and starvation. We all must be ashamed that this is happening on our watch.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“In that light, I call upon Security Council members to stand in solidarity with the people of South Sudan and to advocate within their areas of influence to seek an end to the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“To this end, I ask the Council to call on the parties to the conflict and all armed actors operating in South Sudan to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians, allow free and unhindered humanitarian access and to protect humanitarian workers and their assets. Let my message to the Council today be unequivocal. Since my last report, since the Peace Agreement, the hideous facts on the ground are that the humanitarian situation has severely worsened in that short time and continues to worsen, and the only measure I am using is the lives, the suffering and the deaths of the millions of innocent women, girls, boys and men caught up in the horrendous fight between two sides that have no care for the people they claim to represent.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“As a result, more supplies will have to be moved by air during the rainy season, increasing the cost of delivery by up to six times. The Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights will speak in greater detail to the human rights violations and grave protection concerns in South Sudan, but what is clear from the humanitarian perspective is that both parties have failed to abide by their obligation to protect civilians and civilian facilities and simultaneously failed to allow full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to those in critical need. The terms of the peace agreement have clearly not been enough to halt the rapidly escalating and worsening situation and its implications for millions of civilians across the country. We need action.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“However, despite the courageous efforts of our colleagues on the front lines and the intensive work of humanitarian partners to scale up their capacity, a critical lack of funding continues to severely hobble the humanitarian effort today. Of the required $1.3 billion earmarked to reach more than 5 million people, only 9 per cent - yes, only 9 per cent - of the funding has been received from the international community. Amid a food and nutrition security crisis, NGO partners are scaling down nutrition and health programmes because they simply have not received the funding needed to operate. The small window of opportunity afforded by the dry season will close in the coming weeks, and the funding received has allowed humanitarians to pre-position only 35 per cent of the required supplies across the country.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Despite the challenges, humanitarian partners continue to stand in solidarity with the people of South Sudan. In 2015, and despite the access challenges presented to them, partners were able to reach more than 4.5 million people with assistance, often in the most remote areas. In the first two months of 2016 alone, partners reached more than 1 million people. Humanitarians continue to find innovative ways to save lives, even in areas where formal access is not granted. For example, partners reached more than 100,000 people with life-saving assistance in Unity last year amid violent conflict and access denials.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Since the beginning of2016, there have been at least four major instances of the destruction or looting of humanitarian supplies and facilities. These have taken place in Malakal, Pibor and Western Equatoria. Vital goods such as nutritional supplements, educational materials and water-treatment supplies have been burned or deliberately destroyed. A conservative estimate places the value of humanitarian losses since the beginning of 2016 at around $10 million, including more than $5 million in damages to the Malakal protection-of-civilians site. Much more important than the monetary losses is the loss of human life that results from these wanton attacks against humanitarian facilities and assets. Each time a facility or a compound is damaged or destroyed, and each time supplies are looted, vulnerable civilians are denied vital assistance.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“In the north-western areas of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap, heightened food insecurity, compounded by an economic downturn and growing unrest, has resulted in the flight of some 38,000 people into East and South Darfur since the end of January. On average, more than half of the access incidents reported involve violence against humanitarian personnel or their assets. When I briefed the Council last month, I reported that 47 humanitarian staff had been killed since December 2013. I am appalled to report that this number has now risen to 49. The most recent case is that of Mr. Yien Malouth, an integrated community caseworker for Save the Children, a husband and the father of two children, who was tragically shot in Akobo, Jonglei. Greater action must be taken to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Since January 2016, security risk assessment missions have been denied six times in Central Equatoria alone. These risk assessments are a critical first step to assessing, preparing and enabling effective humanitarian action. In addition to the expanding geographic scope of the conflict, new drivers of crises are emerging and vulnerabilities are being exacerbated, resulting in additional humanitarian and protection needs. Most notably, the deteriorating economic situation is driving instability. As a result of the economic crisis, the monthly cost of food and clean water for an average family now amounts to more than 10 times the salary of a teacher. Such pressures are felt most acutely in urban and population centres.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Illegal exactions and taxes remain rampant, and humanitarian convoys are consistently subjected to demands for payment at checkpoints. Despite the Government's statement that humanitarians should not pay at such points, authorities at the local level have conveyed a very different message, noting that humanitarians should "expect" to make such payments. Convoys travelling from Juba to Bentiu by road recently reported more than 50 checkpoints, with each truck required to pay a total of more than 30,000 South Sudanese pounds, or about US $1,000, in exactions. Such extortions are unacceptable and must stop. The United Nations Department of Safety and Security has also been denied access to conduct security risk assessments in areas where fighting has taken place.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“The lifting of restrictions came only after interventions from the humanitarian community, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, and visits by several ambassadors from various countries to Malakal to speak with the Governor. Delays in the delivery of assistance cost lives and expend precious resources. What humanitarians need is timely, unimpeded access to those we assess to be in vital need, not ad hoc, case-by-case considerations after much attention, pressure and persuasion. The challenge in South Sudan represents an increasing disconnect between the assurances at the national level and the actions of local groups. All too often, even when official assurances are received at the national level, they are not respected by local actors.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Such action compromises the ability of humanitarians to safely and effectively deliver humanitarian assistance and is simply unacceptable. In Malakal, after the horrific violence in mid-February, humanitarians were denied river access to Wau Shilluk for over one month, disrupting the delivery oflife-saving assistance to more than 27,000 people. In a location where homes and businesses had been looted or destroyed, leaving only minimal resources, the denial of access presents a genuine threat to lives. Access was finally granted when the remaining water and nutrition supplies were days away from exhaustion and schools had already closed, as supplies had run out.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“In the 14 days since the adoption of the presidential statement of 17 March, more than 17 incidents of obstruction of access for humanitarian activities have been reported, comprising interference by parties from individual armed actors through to national authorities. The true number is likely to be far higher, given that some humanitarian partners are reluctant to report every incident out of fear of retribution or harassment. For example, last week in Unity, local authorities demanded free transport to Juba aboard the contracted plane of an international non-governmental organization (NGO). When the pilots refused, citing their duty to uphold humanitarian principles, a truck loaded with armed men arrived at the airstrip and threatened to detain the pilots if they did not oblige.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Moreover, schools and health facilities, which are inviolable under international humanitarian law, have been damaged or destroyed, denying children access to education and health care. These new conflict-afflicted areas are the same locations where people are most desperate for help. Displaced, food insecure and vulnerable, these are the populations we must be seeking to aid and protect. However, they cannot be reached by aid workers owing to a host of impediments that continue to hamper aid operations. In 2015, more than 900 access incidents were reported by humanitarian partners in South Sudan, representing a 14 per cent increase from the previous year and a 68 per cent increase from the year before that. This year the trend continues.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Let us not forget that nearly 200,000 people continue to seek protection inside United Nations protection of civilians sites, as they still do not feel that it is safe enough to return home. Regrettably, the sanctity of these sites has not been respected, and more than 25,000 people remain displaced as a result of the events in Malakal. Humanitarians and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan continue to work together to make the conditions in these sites as decent as possible. However, the sites will never be a replacement for the places that people call home. Children remain particularly vulnerable to the expanding conflict. In recent months, children have been separated from their parents while trying to flee the fighting, including 84 documented cases following the events in Malakal.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“In recent months, as we have just heard from Special Representative Lej, we have seen new outbreaks of violence in areas around Western Bahr el-Ghazal, Western Equatoria, Jonglei and Malakal. Such violence has resulted in the displacement of well over 150,000 people, with many forced to flee their homes repeatedly - some more than 10 times. By way of example, on the same day that I briefed the Council last month, fighting erupted in Pibor and surrounding areas, resulting in the displacement of around 13,000 people. Further, some 8,000 internally displaced people seeking refuge in Mboro, Western Bahr el-Ghazal, were forced to flee that area again when fighting erupted on 21 March. A woman who had sought refuge in Mboro and then had to flee to Wau said, "We survived on leaves and turmeric; all our belongings, including food, were looted".”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Despite the Council's presidential statement S/PRST/20l6/l of 17 March, calling on all parties to protect civilians, allow people to move freely and to facilitate timely, full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, yet again I have to report that the situation remains dire. Civilians continue to be targeted, attacked and displaced, and acute humanitarian needs persist, exacerbated by recurrent access challenges. In addition to the unimaginable individual and community abuses that the people of South Sudan have sustained, I must also highlight the fact that, despite the call for a cessation of hostilities in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, the geographic scope of the conflict has grown.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: I thank you, Sir, for this opportunity to brief the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in South Sudan. I thank the previous briefers - the Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and Special Representative of the Secretary-General Lej - for their very clear remarks. When I briefed the Council last month, I drew attention to the deepening humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. Some 6 million people - more than half of the population - are currently in need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, a staggering 2.8 million people are severely food insecure, over 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, and more than half of all school-aged children are not attending class.”
2016-03-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7663 (2016) · source
“The past few weeks have shown, however, that when there is the right amount of political will, the parties and the international community can come together to find ways to reduce the suffering of civilians and engage in talks to bring an end to the conflict. It is the sincere hope of all humanitarians that these talks will pave the path to peace in Syria.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“The cessation of hostilities should also be the catalyst that finally brings an end to the indiscriminate use of weapons on civilians, residential areas, aid supply routes and other civilian infrastructure protected under international law. Already this year, far too many civilians have been killed or injured in direct or indiscriminate attacks by all parties, owing to the continued use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including through barrel bombs and other aerial weapons, shelling and car bombs. It is time to say enough is enough. The lessons of history should tell us that peace cannot wait any longer in Syria. The consequences of failing to resolve the Syrian conflict in Syria, in the region and beyond are now lamentably clear.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“I repeat that call today, particularly for the parties to the conflict and Member States with influence to guarantee full access for humanitarian and medical workers to assess the well- being of civilians in all communities and treat those who are sick and injured without obstacle or restriction; allow all humanitarian aid, as required by international humanitarian law, to reach, unimpeded, those who urgently need it - including medical supplies, surgical equipment and nutritional necessities; and support an urgently needed nationwide immunization campaign for children. These are practical and immediate actions that would mean the difference between life and death for many people. All parties to the conflict can agree on and implement them now.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Over the past weeks, the United Nations and partners have scaled up assistance to people in need, including cross-border assistance from Turkey to meet the needs of the over 60,000 people newly displaced close to the Turkish border owing to the heavy fighting and aerial bombardment in Aleppo governorate throughout February, before the start of the cessation of hostilities. Our challenge now is to scale up assistance further to reach the level required. We are ready to take advantage of any opportunity to assist people in need. On 15 March, five years into the conflict in Syria, 102 humanitarian agencies called for immediate and sustained access in Syria.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“In February, the World Food Programme, for example, delivered food for 3.8 million people; UNICEF provided water, sanitation and hygiene supplies for over 1.5 million people; WHO delivered over 800,000 treatments; and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees delivered support for almost 500,000 people. Our non-governmental organization partners also continue to assist hundreds of thousands of people each month, both from within Syria and across borders.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“To even begin to address the full range of humanitarian and protection needs in those areas, what we need is a permanent stop to the fighting, an end to the sieges and safe, sustained, unconditional and unimpeded access, so that we can meaningfully reach all those in need as often as is required and by whatever route is necessary. We also need civilians to be able to move freely in and out of areas in order to access basic services and assistance, and we need that now, before it is too late. I want to pay tribute to the courageous humanitarian organizations and workers who collectively come together to help millions of people each month through all available routes.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“We have to find ways of doing better and reaching all people in need, and we have to ensure that they have access to basic and essential services wherever they live. As the Council knows, our objective as humanitarians is not political or military. It is about providing emergency aid and protection to people in desperate need and precarious circumstances wherever they are in Syria. For that to become a reality, however, the recent opening of access to some locations must be only the start of a step-change in access. Access must go beyond allowing more aid convoys to deliver limited supplies. We must move beyond the notion that one-off, ad hoc distributions ofassistance to aparticular besieged or hard-to-reach location are somehow sufficient and acceptable, because they are not and never will be.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“I am not in a position to put a number on that, but it is clearly unacceptable. Similarly, medical workers are not getting the access they need to undertake proper medical assessments and treat patients. Having a few hours with patients on the day of a convoy is simply not enough. We need regular access for medical and humanitarian workers for as many follow-up visits as are required. While the situation is acute in besieged and hard-to reach areas, we must remember that this is a conflict that has affected nearly every Syrian. The destruction of essential infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, the devaluation of the currency, the impact of sanctions, rising food prices, shortages of fuel and electricity and a lack of clean water have exacted a high toll on a majority of Syrian families and communities throughout the country.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“More than 80,000 treatments have been excluded or removed from convoys in 2016, the vast majority by the Syrian authorities. The range of the items removed is scandalous, from items for treating child malnutrition to medicine for preventing bleeding after childbirth. There can be no possible justification for removing those or any other basic medical items. I call on all parties, particularly the Syrian authorities, to enable all necessary medical items and equipment, including surgical items, to be allowed onto the convoys. Nor are medical evacuations from besieged and hard-to-reach areas being facilitated by the parties to the extent that they should be. While the United Nations and its partners continue to do their best to follow up on individual cases, that is clearly not enough, and people continue to die unnecessarily as a result.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“The people there have essentially no possibility of moving in or out of the areas, and have diminishing access to clean water, medical care and food. The recent convoy to Al-Houla was vital, and approvals for convoys to the other parts of northern rural Homs give hope that we will be able to alleviate some of the suffering, but we remain extremely concerned about the situation facing civilians in those areas. Nor should we forget the situation of the nearly 2 million people estimated to be living under daily oppression and terror in areas held by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. We have little or no access to them and continue to receive reports of widespread human-rights abuses. Even when we do gain access, serious concerns remain about the ongoing exclusion and removal of medical supplies and treatments from convoys.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“The situation in those areas is dreadful, particularly in Darayya, where we continue to receive reports of severe shortages of food, clean water, medicines, electricity and basic commodities, with people's food security and nutrition status believed to be disastrous. There are even reports of people forced to eat grass. The daily misery in those areas shames us all. The humanitarian situation in many hard-to-reach areas also remains critical. For example, I continue to be deeply troubled about the conditions for the more than 210,000 civilians in northern rural Homs, specifically the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh, Al-Houla, Ter Mallah and Taldo, as well as 15,000 people in the adjacent area of Hirbnafsah and surrounding communities in rural Hama.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Even where we are now getting responses, they are often not approved. So far in 2016, we have reached only some 30 per cent of people in besieged areas and less than 10 per cent of those in hard-to- reach areas. Despite recent approvals for some, the Syrian authorities continue not to give approval for certain locations. From the recently submitted plan for cross-line convoys in April, only six of 11 locations were approved by the Syrian authorities, and for some locations they specified delivery quantities that would mean that we could cover only a portion of the population in each area. We are still without approval for three besieged areas that are mere minutes by car from United Nations warehouses in Damascus - Duma, East Harasta and Darayya.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Iftruth be told, we are a long way from the sustained, unconditional and unimpeded access that is required of the parties under international law and that the Council has continued to demand in its resolutions. Humanitarian conditions remain dire throughout the country, with some 13.5 million people still in need, and we are still facing daily obstacles to our ability to reach those who need our help the most. We have shared details of those obstacles with member States that have influence on the parties in order to see what more they can do to break the barricades to speedy, safe and unimpeded access, relief and evacuations of the sick and wounded. Many of the 4.6 million people who are in need in besieged and hard-to-reach areas still remain beyond our reach, owing to insecurity and to obstructions by the parties.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“I also take note of the Syrian authorities' recent approvals for reaching additional hard-to-reach, besieged and other priority locations across conflict lines. Based on approvals received to date, the United Nations is currently working to deliver assistance before the end of April to more than 800,000 people with acute needs in those locations. In addition, assuming that the parties facilitate access and that security conditions allow it, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) aim to implement a nationwide vaccination campaign that would target about 1 million children. Even as we acknowledge the recent progress on humanitarian access, we must also recognize that it is only a first step towards what is required.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Since mid-February, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has also been able to provide assistance to an estimated 19,000 Palestine refugees in Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem, including an estimated 6,000 civilians from the besieged area of Yarmouk. I also emphatically welcome the Government of Syria's recent commitment to simplifying the administrative procedures for cross-line convoys, answering our requests within seven days of submission and ensuring that the necessary facilitation letters are issued in three days. I am pleased to report that the Government of Syria provided a response to our inter-agency convoy plan for April within the specified time frame. Last year, more than 75 per cent of requests were not answered at all.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Humanitarian access has opened up to some besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Since the beginning of the year, we have reached 150,000 people in 11 out of the 18 besieged areas in Syria through inter-agency convoys. Some ofthe places, such as Madaya, Zabadani, Foah and Kefraya, collectively known as the four towns, have been reached each month this year. Efforts are also ongoing in order to safely reach the 200,000 people besieged in parts of Deir ez-Zor city through high-altitude air drops led by the World Food Programme (WFP). Furthermore, through inter-agency convoys we have reached some 199,000 people in hard- to-reach locations, including Al-Waer and Al-Houla in Homs governorate and Bloudan in Rural Damascus governorate, as well as around 50,000 people in other priority cross-line locations where needs are dire.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“There remains no substitute for the process of permissions and careful negotiations with all parties for safe access to areas where vulnerable people are in order to meet their humanitarian needs. I very much welcome the resumption of the political talks last week, led by Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura. All of us must rally behind his tireless efforts to find a political solution that brings an end t0 the conflict and meets the aspirations of the Syrian people. After a chronicle of missed opportunities, this is the time for the various parties to come together and put an end to this horrendous chapter in Syria's history. I will focus this briefing on the latest information on humanitarian access. I am pleased to report that we have seen some signs of progress over the past few weeks.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: After five years of senseless and brutal conflict, we all have been longing for a glimmer of hope that the suffering of the Syrian people might finally be coming to an end. The past few weeks have brought such a glimmer, with far fewer civilians killed and injured since the cessation of hostilities came into effect one month ago. In some parts of the country at least, it has given a respite to people, who have told us loud and clear that all they want is to be safe and for their families to be protected from violence. There has also been progress on humanitarian access, with the United Nations and partners reaching some additional besieged and hard-to-reach areas, some for the first time in many months or even years. However, much more is required, and we must continue to seek access to all those who need help.”
2016-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7660 (2016) · source
“I am also pleased to report that the WFP chartered vessel, the Mainport Cedar, which had been diverted and taken by the coalition to the Saudi port of Jizan, was released on 25 February. Humanitarian food and medical supplies were subsequently delivered, as planned, to Hudaydah. The humanitarian information technology equipment will be delivered to Aden on 6 March Once again, I underscore the urgent need for the Council and the international community more broadly to impress upon the parties to the conflict their obligations to take greater measures to protect civilians and to facilitate unconditional and sustained access to all parts of Yemen. I also ask the Council to press the parties to resume peace talks and agree to a cessation of hostilities.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“tripartite steering committee consisting of a representative of the Government of Yemen, the coalition and the United Nations will be finalized this week, allowing the full commencement of UNVIM. operations. In recent months there has been a significant increase of the delivery of fuel and other life-saving imports through Yemeni ports, and it is critical that every effort be made by all Member States directly concerned to encourage, and not hinder, that trend. It is imperative that imports to Yemen and trading within Yemen be allowed to continue. I call on all parties to ensure the protection of civilian infrastructure, including shipping ports and associated equipment.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“In February, for example, over 3 million people received WFP food assistance - some 400,000 more than the month before. The humanitarian community remains committed to expanding its overall response to 13.4 million people this year in Yemen. To achieve this, the Yemen humanitarian response plan for 2016 appeals for $1.8 billion. On 12 February, the Secretary-General instituted the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) at the request of the Government of Yemen. The Mechanism, based in Djibouti, is intended to expedite legitimate commercial imports of critical commodities such as food, fuel and medicines. All States and relevant organizations, including the International Maritime Organization, have since been notified of the Mechanism's procedures. The nominations for the UNVIM.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“Originally intended to be launched in October 2015, the assessment continues to be blocked by authorities in Sana'a. This assessment is critically needed in order to update information on food security and nutrition to inform humanitarian response. Let me therefore remind all parties that providing timely and unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations is not only the fundamental prerequisite to any meaningful humanitarian response, but also an obligation under international humanitarian law. I call upon the Council to request all parties, in no uncertain terms, to stop any denial of access and facilitate life-saving needs immediately. Despite these challenges, United Nations agencies and partners continue to deliver assistance, often at gave risk, across all sectors.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“Bureaucratic requirements imposed by Houthi authorities also delay and impede the rapid delivery of humanitarian assistance. In one week alone in February, the Ministry of the Interior in Sana'a refused travel permission to three separate United Nations-led missions from Sana'a to Ibb and Ta'izz. Increasingly, the movement of United Nations security staff into and out of the country is also being made difficult, having a direct impact on our ability to expand operations. Of particular concern, however, is the fact that for over three months the World Food Programme (WFP), together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF, have been trying to conduct an emergency food security and nutrition assessment throughout the country.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“Those attacks and the general lawlessness in Aden have prevented the United Nations from redeploying international staff there since October 2015, thereby directly impacting our ability to assess needs and monitor response. Intense fighting around Sana'a, Marib, Ta'izz and Sa'ada also restrict our ability to deliver assistance where it is needed most. The proliferation of checkpoints across the country further impedes humanitarian action, slowing the transport of key goods and services and in some instances halting movement altogether. Command-and- control lines within armed groups are often tenuous, with agreements and guarantees reached at the national level not necessarily communicated downstream to the individuals at checkpoints. Despite permission to move, trucks are often held up and sometimes delayed for days or even weeks.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“All parties to the conflict have an obligation under international humanitarian law to take every measure to ensure that civilians and civilian objects are protected. It is unacceptable that health facilities are being hit, and it is critical that the parties make guarantees that those locations will be protected. In the absence of a political, negotiated end to the conflict, the security situation across much of the country is rapidly deteriorating. In Aden, regular attacks by parties - including Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the so-called Aden and Abyan branch of the Islamic State and local militants - take place against security personnel and other segments of the Government of Yemen.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“More than 2,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured since the start of the conflcit - including at least 90 children killed this year alone * by airstrikes, shelling, ground fighting and unexploded ordnance. Protected places, such as hospitals, schools and homes, continue to be hit by all parties. On 24 February, coalition air strikes reportedly hit a health centre in Bidbadah district, Marib governorate, completely destroying the facility. On 1 March, airstrikes reportedly landed within 20 metres of a hospital in Sa'ada. I reiterate my previous calls: air strikes and random shelling of civilians and civilian areas violate cardinal rules of international humanitarian law and constitute unlawful conduct of hostilities.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: The conflict in Yemen continues unabated since my latest briefing (see S/PV.7622) to the Security Council, on 16 February. By far the most pressing concern today is the protection of civilians, millions of whom daily face relentless, and often indiscriminate, bombing and shelling of urban areas by the parties to the conflict. That was again made starkly clear on Saturday, 27 February, when approximately 30 people were killed and 40 injured in an apparent air strike on a busy market in the Nahem district of Sana'a governorate. Six children were among those killed in the attack. That was one of four air strikes in Nahem during February that reportedly killed civilians.”
2016-03-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7641 (2016) · source
“I cannot stress enough that we must not let this opportunity pass. We cannot take away that glimmer of hope from the people who need it most.”
2016-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7631 (2016) · source
“In that regard, I once again call urgently on the Government of Syria to approve without delay the more than 40 requests outstanding for inter-agency convoys to deliver assistance to hard-to-reach and besieged areas. I also call on non-State armed groups and listed terrorist groups to fulfil their obligations. There are no winners in the Syrian conflict. Everyone is losing. But the highest price is being paid by Syrian men, women and children who are seeing their country, homes and families torn apart. This war has to end. As much as we try, the delivery of humanitarian assistance can address only the symptoms, not the root causes. The international community and the parties to the conflict must seize the momentum created around the nationwide cessation of hostilities to bring a political solution to the crisis.”
2016-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7631 (2016) · source
“We will continue to stay and deliver, but we remain concerned about the impact of fighting and insecurity on humanitarian access and operational space, in particular to the eastern areas of the city of Aleppo. This fragile access to people in need must be safeguarded at all costs. Let me be frank. While the United Nations and its partners are ready to take advantage of any opportunity to reach people in need, granting access should never be dependent upon political negotiations or ad hoc deals on the ground. The protection of civilians and the facilitation of humanitarian assistance are legal obligations that are incumbent upon all parties to the conflict at all times and for all types of assistance. That is a fundamental and irrefutable tenet of international humanitarian law and it must be respected.”
2016-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7631 (2016) · source
“UNICEF provided water, sanitation and hygiene supplies for more than 2 million people, and the World Health Organization delivered nearly 660,000 treatments. This month, significant amounts of supplies were delivered through cross-border operations authorized by the Council. During the first three weeks ofFebruary, food assistance reached some 960,000 people, which represents a 48 per cent increase as compared to the same period in January. Health supplies were also delivered for some 300,000 people in February. Large, multi-truck convoys are crossing the three border crossings of Bab Al-Salam, Bab Al-Hawa and Ar Ramtha on a nearly daily basis.”
2016-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7631 (2016) · source
“The agreement on a cessation of hostilities must finally and unequivocally produce what the Council's resolutions and the basic tenets and obligations that apply under international law have not been able to achieve so far - an immediate end to all targeted or indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and improved protection of civilians. Enough is enough. This brutality must be brought to an end. Despite the intensified fighting, the United Nations and its partners have continued to scale up assistance to people in need, albeit at great personal risk to their staff. Last month, the United Nations and its partners reached millions of people in need with assistance through all available routes. The World Food Programme, for example, delivered food for 3.6 million people.”
2016-02-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7631 (2016) · source