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: The cruel conflict in Syria continues to tear families apart, inflicts brutal suffering on the innocent and leaves them pleading for protection and justice. I readily acknowledge that there have been reports of a significant drop in violence in some areas of the country. However, such steps forward continue to be counter-weighed by the reality of a conflict that continues to devastate the civilian population. On 16 May, 30 children and women were gravely injured in a heinous attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on besieged neighbourhoods in Deir ez-Zor as they were lining up for water. In addition, more than 100 civilians, many of them women and children, have fallen victim, in recent weeks.”
2017-05-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7955 (2017) · source
“I also wish to say that we need action now, because now it is already too late for the more than 250,000 Syrians who have died over the course of this atrocious war. I would therefore tell the members of the Security Council that it is action today that is going to count.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“A step change in access to besieged and hard-to-reach locations is needed in order to ensure full implementation of United Nations inter-agency convoy plans, and to ensure delivery on the basis of humanitarian needs assessments. There must also be an end to the removal of medical items from convoys, and immediate, unimpeded and sustained access to all in need throughout Syria. In particular, there must be an immediate lifting of all sieges. Finally, there must be a political solution to the conflict, in accordance with resolution 2254 (2015) and the Geneva communique (S/2012/522, annex). As long as military tactics are prioritized over political, there can be no lasting peace, and it will be the civilian population that is exposed to further needless suffering as a result.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“I am sad to say that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, if that were possible, and the need for the active engagement of members of the Council is urgent. The core needs of the Syrian people from the international community in general, and from those Member States seated in the Council in particular, remain largely unchanged. They include a consolidation of the nationwide ceasefire, and in particular a pause in fighting in eastern Ghouta, to enable the delivery of aid; the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure by all parties to the conflict; and the lifting of arbitrary and bureaucratic impediments by all parties throughout Syria. It is imperative that no country or group prevent people from moving in safety or humanitarian organizations from accessing people in need wherever they are in Syria.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Given the shifting front lines, all routes need to remain open to allow people safe passage and for aid to reach people in need throughout Syria through the most direct routes via the brave humanitarian aid workers. We have seen innovations of necessity successfully implemented through air drops to Deir ez-Zor and the air bridge to Qamishli. Now, with needs increasing in north-east Syria and more traditional routes inaccessible, an increasing number of United Nations partners are looking for alternatives. The number of international NGOs operating out of north-east Syria has nearly quadrupled in the past year and is expected to grow further as needs continue to outstrip the assistance being provided. A land route from Aleppo to Qamishli to provide support to Raqqa is also being negotiated and explored.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“As a result of these changes, the number of people in besieged areas now stands atjust over 620,000. Although the overall number of those besieged is falling, this process of evacuation must not be misconstrued as a positive development. These evacuations are not in line with humanitarian principles and are not conducted in consultation with the people. Let us not pretend that those who evacuate move to a location of safety. Many of those who displace to Idlib or northern Aleppo continue to live in areas where civilian structures, including hospitals, come under regular aerial bombardment, and their access to basic goods such as food and shelter is limited. These civilians may no longer be besieged, but they have been forced to leave their homes and they continue to suffer.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Inaction has played a part in material changes to the humanitarian landscape. As the noose has tightened around eastern Ghouta, some 30,000 people in the adjacent areas of Barza and Qabun have also come under siege by the Government of Syria. Significantly, however, we continue to see an overall reduction in the number of people besieged due to the starve-and-surrender tactics used primarily by the Government of Syria. Among others, thousands of people in Wadi Barada, Khan al-Shih, Al-Waer in Homs city, and in the four towns referred to earlier have now been displaced as part of local agreements, which followed years of besiegement and intense air strikes, shelling and sniping. Khan al-Shih and Zabadani have now been removed from the list ofbesieged locations. In fact, Zabadani is now devoid of its civilian population.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Deir ez-Zor, besieged by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, continues to be reached by airdrops. I have said publicly that the failure to deliver is a stain on notjust the parties to the conflict, but also on those in the international community, including the Security Council, as well as the members of the humanitarian task force of the International Syria Support Group, who have committed themselves to exercising their influence to improve humanitarian access, particularly to besieged areas. Despite this challenge, the United Nations and humanitarian partners continue to relentlessly negotiate access, as we have always done and wherever it is possible. Real progress is needed now to stymie the tide of death and suffering inflicted on people day after day, month after month. For many, it is already too late.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“I will not repeat again the bureaucratic delaying tactics used by the Government of Syria to thwart humanitarian assistance at every turn, beyond saying that they continue to bring untold human suffering. As a result of these tactics and the ongoing insecurity, levels of access for inter-agency cross-line convoys are no greater than they were at this time last year. Only four convoys have deployed so far under the new two- monthly April-May plan, reaching 157,500 people. None of those convoys reached besieged areas due to a lack of necessary authorizations. In fact, the only besieged people reached this year by land were the 6,000 trapped in Khan al-Shih and the 60,000 in the four towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Fo'ah and Kefraya, who were accessed separately through the objectionable, tit-for- tat four towns agreement.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“For example, in the north-east of Syria, requirements for humanitarians to register with local authorities have been in place since March; these include provisions regarding NGO recruitment policies and interference with procurement processes, among others. Furthermore, since 4 April local authorities have attempted to direct where assistance could be delivered. Such directing of assistance is contrary to the humanitarian principles. These wrongful attempted coercions have resulted in a pause in United Nations operations in Hasakah governorate, affecting nearly 100,000 people. In Idlib, similar restrictions - such as new registration demands and requests for information on and interference in the staffing, logistics and finances of NGOs - only penalize those most in need.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“The situation for those in the camps is extremely difficult, with four out of five people lacking appropriate shelter, and there are now reports of the deaths of several children due to a lack of medical care. The United Nations and our NGO partners are responding from Qamishli, and there are plans to scale up the response in the coming days. While insecurity causes the humanitarian situation to deteriorate for hundreds of thousands, access to provide them with life-saving support is challenged at every turn. I am concerned by the rise - I repeat rise - in administrative and other bureaucratic restrictions imposed by all parties.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Increased fighting has also resulted in displacement in northern Hama, where some 20,000 people have been displaced in recent days. In Idlib, air strikes and shelling continue to kill civilians and damage civilian infrastructure. Just this week, a medical facility in Shinan village was reportedly struck by air strikes, and in Khan Shaykhun, where the chemical attack occurred earlier in the month, its market was taken out by aerial bombardment that resulted in the deaths of seven civilians, including a child, and the wounding of 30 more. In Raqqa, ongoing fighting has also led to deaths, injury and displacement. Some 39,000 newly displaced people fled fighting to join the tens of thousands already in camps outside Raqqa city, and more arrive every day.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“These gross tactics will cause only further human suffering, human suffering borne primarily by the civilian population - and for which perpetrators must, and on this we are determined, be held to account - if not now, in the nearest future possible. Beyond these attacks that have so shocked the world, as I said to the Council last month (see S/PV.7909), I am also gravely concerned about the situation in besieged eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus, where civilians remain trapped amid reports of relentless shelling, air strikes and ground fighting. The last informal access routes have reportedly been closed, further restricting movement for some 400,000 people who live in the area, and whom the United Nations has been unable to access since October last year.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“I wish I could say it was mindless brutality - but no, it was deliberate, planned, predetermined by other humans against their own fellow human beings, sheer unbridled cruelty by leaders and commanders and we await the investigation to confirm which ones. Just a few days ago, two more hospitals were rendered inoperable after reported air strikes that also led to the deaths and injury of civilians, including children. At least six hospitals and three schools have reportedly been impacted in April alone. I echo the call of our humanitarian coordinators that attacks against medical facilities are completely unacceptable and must stop. What purpose can the use of such military tactics bring? Certainly, they do not bring peace or any benefit to any Syrian.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Out of a deplorable terrorist act arose a testament to the strength of the Syrian spirit - of ordinary civilian Syrians coming together to help others, regardless of their background. All too sadly, such glimmers of humanity, acts that we see everyday at a local level across Syria, are overshadowed by the sheer number and ferocity of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and markets. The past months have seen fighting continue to intensify on numerous fronts. The Secretary-General has said time and again that there will be no military end to this conflict. Yet, military might continues to be used against civilians in a way that defies all reason, let alone morality or law. The use of abhorrent chemical weapons on 4 April in Khan Shaykhun was yet another horrific account of such brutality.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: On 15 April, the exhausted, oppressed people of Syria suffered yet another horrendous attack. Scared and starved, men, women and children from the towns of Fo'ah and Kefraya were targeted by a car bomb while stuck at a checkpoint in Rashidin. There were 67 children among the 125 dead - such a terrible price for those already robbed of so much. Yet I do not raise the incident solely because of the loss of life or depravity of the attackers. Rather, it was the unity of the humanitarian response to the attack that ought also to be in the headlines. Humanitarians from all directions rushed in to save lives. Syrian Arab Red Crescent workers, first responders, medical staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some 15 Syrian NGOs, along with countless civilians, bound together to aid survivors as best they could.”
2017-04-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7931 (2017) · source
“As the Secretary-General has said, peace in Syria is a moral and political imperative for both the Syrian people and the world, and it is an imperative that cannot wait.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“First, we should make the most of the 30 December 2016 ceasefire established by the guarantors of the Astana meetings by enhancing it further with real protections for civilians and civilian infrastructure, and by removing the remaining obstacles and impediments in order to ensure that humanitarian aid keeps flowing to reach all those in need in Syria. Secondly, we should appeal to the parties, and all those with influence over them, to strive to overcome their differences and work together to put an end to the conflict. That is the only way to stop the suffering of Syrian men, women and children. I sincerely hope that this is the year that the parties to the conflict, and those who support their actions, regain their sense of humanity.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“That is why the meeting to be held in Brussels on 5 April is so important, because it is this year's pledging event for the Syrian people and their surrounding neighbours. It will build on the successful strategic approach taken in London last year, but will be very mindful of the fact that, just like the humanitarians, the international community and donors are at full stretch. In addition to all the points I have made this morning, I would like to finish by adding my voice to the two urgent appeals to all parties made by the Secretary-General earlier this month.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“I welcome the release of the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria, which outlines requirements totalling some $3.4 billion for undertaking a comprehensive humanitarian response in Syria, including saving lives, enhancing protection and building people's resilience. I sincerely thank donors for their continuing support and respectfully ask them to go above and beyond this year so that we can maintain our critical humanitarian support to civilians across the country. Until there is any success in securing peace and silencing the guns fully and permanently, we must once again meet Syrians' immediate lifesaving needs as well as those in the recovery time beyond that, for as long as it takes, in what is now the seventh year of this hideous conflict.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“And those brave and committed humanitarians have ensured the delivery of aid to as many in need as possible. In 2016, some 6.8 million people on average were reached with food assistance, some 18 million medical procedures were carried out or supported, 12 million treatment courses provided, 13 million people reached with water, sanitation and hygiene support, and 3.4 million children and pregnant or lactating women reached with essential nutrition services. I must emphasize that the United Nations and its partners, who are mostly brave Syrian colleagues, will continue to stand with the people of Syria to deliver aid to millions of civilians, regardless of which side they are on or are perceived to be on, or if they are on no side at all.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“When we have reached them, that has always been as a result of the brave, persistent and patient negotiations by the teams on the ground and by utilizing one or two influential channels. These years of fighting and continued access challenges have meant that millions of Syrians have been forced to live in appalling conditions, often without safety or the basic essentials of life. Some 13.5 million Syrian people will try to go to sleep tonight in dire need of assistance. The scale and severity of humanitarian needs show no sign of dissipating, and that is why the humanitarian work of the United Nations and its partners remains as vital as ever. Despite all the obstacles and dangers, they are nonetheless doing brave, successful, lifesaving work.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“At the same time, for continued progress to happen, we also need the renewed support of Council members and the members of the Humanitarian Task Force of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in doing their part, which is exerting their individual and collective influence on the parties. The breakthroughs last year and even the progress this week, however incremental, are proof that when there is enough political will, when we work together in the name of humanity, it is really possible to reach people in desperate need of lifesaving assistance. But ifwe are honest with ourselves and add up the score sheet today, the ISSG has not actually secured any access to the besieged or hard-to-reach areas, either for us - the humanitarian personnel - or the United Nations more broadly.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“We will do our part to make that happen, but we hope that the Syrian authorities will also do theirs and take the necessary steps. That means removing the requirement for multiple facilitation letters to be received for health, agricultural or water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, and signing facilitation letters within two days of receiving a request from the United Nations. It means allowing delivery on the basis of United Nations needs assessments and allowing requested surgical and medical items to be loaded. Those are all simple steps that, taken immediately, will have a definite positive impact on the lives of suffering civilians in so many parts of Syria.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The current bureaucratic architecture is at best excessive and at its worst is deliberately intended to prevent convoys from proceeding. The United Nations continues to engage the Syrian authorities in good faith to find a way to improve the inter-agency convoy process. As part of that, the United Nations team has submitted a two-month inter-agency convoy plan for April and May with the aim of reaching 1 million beneficiaries in 28 besieged and hard-to-reach locations. It is hoped that spreading the plan over a period of two months rather than one will provide enough space for the approvals to be translated into deliveries on the ground. Aside from genuine security problems, there should be no compelling reason for the convoys to be unable to proceed over that two-month period.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“However, it is still the case that for every convoy that reaches its intended destination, several more are unable to deploy during the month as a result of the Government of Syria's recurring administrative issues and delays. At the same time, some non-State armed groups continue to threaten or refuse to cooperate with humanitarian workers. And sustained United Nations access to areas under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, such as parts of the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor governorates, remains extremely limited. While the number of convoys this month represents some progress compared to previous months, it is essential that the Government agree to take further steps to simplify the bureaucratic processes around the preparation and deployment of inter-agency convoys.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“After painstaking negotiations by our humanitarian coordinator and the team from the Offirce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the ground, another convoy is planned to deploy today to the hard- to-reach area of Rastan in Homs, reaching more than 110,000 people altogether, meaning a total of some 310,000 against the plan if the convoy successfully deploys. With several deliveries over the past week, the pace of convoys is picking up. and I salute the round- the-clock efforts of my humanitarian colleagues in the United Nations, SARC, the International Committee of the Red Cross and our other humanitarian partners in Damascus who bravely make that possible.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The only besieged areas reached through our convoy plan were the Four towns and Khan El-Shih in rural Damascus, which was completed today. In addition, vastly expensive and technically challenging airdrops to Deir ez-Zor continue for nearly 93,500 people given no land access at all to these people besieged by so- called Islamic State. Even then, various medical items on the convoy completed today were removed, and when we reached Madaya, one of the four towns, we were unable to distribute all of the delivered assistance owing to sniping from surrounding militias that itself left several people dead.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“Through the March inter-agency convoy plan, we had sought to reach 787,500 people through road convoys. However, original approvals were received for only 44 per cent, or 348,200 people - the lowest approval rate since March 2016, when the monthly plan process began, although this increased to some 74 per cent later this month when additional approvals for some other locations were received following intense engagement by the United Nations team on the ground As we sit here today, with the month virtually complete, we have reached some 200,000 people against the plan. This includes convoys for some 133,500 people in the hard-to-reach areas of Bludan and Wadi Barada in rural Damascus and Talbiseh in Horns. This is limited incremental progress, thanks to extraordinary efforts of the team on the ground.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“It is imperative that all those who are displaced through such agreements be allowed to return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity, to their homes as soon as the situation allows. Parties must allow humanitarian organizations safe and unimpeded access to bring life-saving help to those displaced and those who wish to remain, and identify and respond to protection threats. Let me now turn now to access. I had sincerely hoped that 2017 would bring about a step change in our level of humanitarian access, particularly to besieged and hard-to-reach areas, building on the relative progress of last year, particularly the first nine months. The bottom line is, however, that with a quarter of the year gone, our current levels of access are no better than they were at this time last year.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“As we have seen elsewhere, evacuations from besieged areas typically follow months or even years of unrelenting military siege and offensive military action; of severe restrictions on freedom of movement for civilians, as well as on commercial and humanitarian goods; and of unremitting, appalling humanitarian conditions. All sieges are stark, contemptuous violations of the Council's resolutions. All sieges must be lifted immediately - full stop. However, as I have made clear before, this should not be through any type of surrender agreement that results in the decimation of an area and the forced displacement of some parts of the civilian population. Any evacuation of civilians must be safe, must be voluntary, and must be to a place of their choosing.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The agreement reportedly includes the entry of humanitarian assistance and a nine-month pause in fighting covering the Four towns and southern parts of Damascus and its countryside. We are monitoring developments closely as the level of humanitarian and protection needs of those in each of the besieged Four towns remains of the highest severity. Let me be clear. The United Nations was not involved in any of the negotiations for these agreements or the evacuation process for Al-Wa'er, but I must underscore our concern over such agreements.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“As part of that agreement, some 3,500 people - including fighters, their families and civilians e were evacuated on 18 and 27 March from the besieged neighbourhood of Al-Wa'er in Homns towards J arablus in rural Aleppo. It is our understanding that further evacuations are to take place on a weekly basis until the process has been finalized. Also as part of the agreement, Government forces reopened one of the roads connecting Al-Wa'er neighbourhood with the rest of Homs city and food items are now entering the neighbourhood without hindrance, prices have fallen and electricity has also been restored. The United Nations has also received reports of an agreement between parties to the conflict to evacuate people from the besieged towns of Madaya and Zabadani in rural Damascus and Fo'ah and Kefraya in Idlib, otherwise known as the Four towns.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“From November last year until this month, sporadic fighting, limited access to commercial supplies and a growing scarcity of basic supplies have resulted in an insufferable situation for trapped civilians. There has been no United Nations inter-agency humanitarian delivery to the besieged neighbourhood since 26 October 2016, and as I reported last month, a convoy planned for 20 February was forced to turn back due to insecurity and, in the process, trucks were diverted, aid was taken - although some was later retrieved - and drivers were abused. It is our understanding that a local agreement was signed between the Government of Syria and non-State armed groups in Al-Wa'er earlier this month.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The last United Nations humanitarian delivery to any of the besieged areas of eastern Ghouta was in October 2016, nearly six months ago, with other areas not accessed since June 2016. Recent approvals to reach the area could not be acted upon due to the security situation and lack of facilitation letters, although the SARC was able to deliver a portion of the health supplies planned for the convoy on 9 March - including 250 dialysis kits, vaccines and baby milk- to its sub-branch in Duma. This partial delivery was welcome, of course, but clearly wholly insufficient given the scale and gravity of circumstances people are facing. I have also been following the situation in the besieged neighbourhood of Al-Wa'er, in Homs, with great concern, a community of tens of thousands of people that I visited cross-line in 2015.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The number of children suffering from trauma injuries is alarmingly high; 30 per cent of all patients with war- related injuries are children under 15 years of age. It bears repeating that 30 per cent of all patients with war-related injuries are children under 15 years of age. The deaths of patients due to lack of dialysis equipment and a measles outbreak have also been reported. Since 20 March, Government forces reportedly have prevented commercial trucks from entering eastern Ghouta, resulting in elevated price hikes for basic staples, while informal trade has also been curtailed. Put starkly, this tightening of the siege has started a time bomb for the people of eastern Ghouta. It is critical that the United Nations and our partners be facilitated access to the enclave before conditions deteriorate further.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“Over the past month, we have continued to receive reports of civilian casualties and injuries due to heavy aerial bombardment and artillery shelling of the besieged enclave and adjacent areas of Barzeh, Qaboun and West Harasta. Some 27,000 people have been displaced due to the fighting, including some 17,000 people further into eastern Ghouta and 10,000 people to At-Tall in rural Damascus. More people are likely to flee in the coming days if fighting continues. According to the World Health Organization, all three public hospitals and seventeen public health- care centres in eastern Ghouta are non-functioning and inaccessible to the population, with several of them reportedly destroyed by airstrikes, although some facilities are reportedly still operational elsewhere.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The past fortnight has also seen non-State armed groups increase their shelling on populated areas of Damascus, including Bab Touma, Rukn Al-Din and Abbasin Square, killing and injuring many civilians over the past two weeks and leading to the temporary closure of schools in some neighbourhoods. The hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in besieged areas continue to face severe and horrific threats at every turn. I remain extremely concerned about the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the besieged parts of eastern Ghouta in rural Damascus, where some 400,000 people are trapped by Government forces.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“Up to 40,000 people have reportedly fled the affected areas of fighting in northern rural Hama to locations in Hama, Idlib, Horns, Tartous and Lattakia where the United Nations and partners are responding. Some of those internally displaced persons are at risk of further displacement as fierce fighting continues and front lines continue to shift. In the capital, Damascus, the death and injury of dozens of people by two explosions targeting Bab al-Saghir, where many pilgrims were visiting in mid-March, was an appalling reminder of the willingness of extremist terrorist groups to wantonly target civilians. Similar explosions targeted a court house and a restaurant.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“I urge all parties to do everything in their power to protect and spare civilians from the effects of the hostilities, as required, not just requested, under international humanitarian law. The United Nations and partners stand ready to scale up assistance through whichever modality is most appropriate and have prepositioned stocks of relief items in several locations to enable a rapid response in Raqqa, access permitting. But that is the key phrase: "access permitting". Elsewhere, fighting in the northern countryside of Hama governorate over the past week has had significant safety and protection concerns for civilians. The closure of key roads in Hama has restricted commercial and civilian movement. A hospital in Latmana town was reportedly attacked from the air, resulting in the death of a doctor and a patient.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“On 22 March, air strikes reportedly hit a bakery and a local market in the Al-Tabqa area ofRaqqa, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries. And on 27 March, an engineer and technicians, including a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer, were reportedly killed as a result of an aerial attack while they were at the Tabqa Dam to assess the dam prior to conducting repairs and stabilizing it. Meanwhile, tens of thousands have reportedly been displaced as a result ofthe offensive since November 2016, and humanitarian partners have been responding to the displaced. As the fighting moves to more civilian-populated areas closer to Raqqa city, concerns about the fate of civilians will only grow.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“Attacks on civilian infrastructure such as medical facilities and schools - a trademark of the war in Syria - continue to be reported. I remain deeply anxious for the safety and protection of over 400,000 civilians due to ongoing military operations in Raqqa governorate. We continue to receive reports that fighting and air strikes continue to result in death and injury for scores of civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure, including schools, bakeries, markets and water infrastructure. For example, on 21 March, air strikes reportedly hit the Al-Badiya school in Al-Mansoura town in western rural Raqqa governorate, resulting in scores of deaths and injuries among the internally displaced people who were living at the school.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“While we rightly acknowledge the current efforts being made on the political track, we have to maintain a laser focus on the fact that violence continues to rear its ugly head in various parts of the country, even if images of it have largely disappeared from the world's television screens since the evacuation of eastern Aleppo. Indeed, the last months have been some of the worst yet for civilians inside Syria and, for Syria, that is saying something. The continued use of explosive weapons and ongoing military operations in populated towns and villages in Hama, Damascus, Idlib, Aleppo, Dar'a, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor governorates have killed and injured hundreds of civilians over the past weeks and displaced tens of thousands more.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“The building blocks of civilian life, including bakeries, water stations, hospitals, schools, and places of worship, have been gradually destroyed. The parties gathering in Geneva this week - and those around this table today - surely understand the huge responsibility on their shoulders to bring this Syrian nightmare to an end after years of political intransigence. I cannot emphasize enough how high the stakes are. The Syrian people need to see a tangible improvement in their daily lives because, quite frankly, it is they who have borne the brunt of this conflict. It is my hope, and the hope of every humanitarian, to see the current political process succeed, and we are fully behind the Secretary-General, his Special Envoy, Mr. De Mistura, and his team.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: The Syrian conflict has entered its seventh year, and we have all borne witness to one of the largest man-made humanitarian and protection crises in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more injured. Almost 5 million people have fled and are now living as refugees. Crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed by all parties time and again, as the Commission of Inquiry attested to earlier this month. In Syria, there is not a man, woman or child from any walk of life who has not felt the impact of the particular wretchedness of this especially gruesome and protracted conflict. Syrians have watched huge parts of their historic and proud country reduced to rubble.”
2017-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7909 (2017) · source
“All four countries have one thing in common: conflict. This means that we - the Council - have the possibility to prevent and end further misery and suffering. The United Nations and its partners are ready to scale up, but we need the access and the funds to do more. It is all preventable. It is possible to avert this crisis, to avert these famines, to avert these looming human catastrophes.”
2017-03-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7897 (2017) · source
“Secondly, with sufficient and timely financial support, humanitarians can still help to prevent the worst-case scenario. To do this, humanitarians require safe, full and unimpeded access to people in need. Parties to the conflict must respect this fundamental tenet of international humanitarian law, and those with influence over the parties must exert that influence now. Thirdly, the fighting must stop. To continue on the path ofwar and military conquest is, I think we all know, to guarantee failure, humiliation and moral turpitude, and we will bear the responsibility for the millions who face hunger and deprivation on an incalculable scale because of it. Allow me very briefly to sum up. The situation for people in each country is dire, and without a major international response, the situation will get worse.”
2017-03-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7897 (2017) · source
“We have strategic, coordinated and prioritized plans in every country. We have the right leadership and heroic, dedicated teams on the ground. We are working hand-in-hand with development partners to marry the immediate life-saving with longer-term sustainable development. We are ready to scale up. This is, frankly, not the time to ask for more detail or use that postponing phrase, "What would you prioritize?" Every life on the edge of famine and death is equally worth saving. Now we need the international community and the Council to act. First and foremost, it must act quickly to tackle the precipitating factors of famine. Preserving and restoring normal access to food and ensuring all parties' compliance with international humanitarian law are key.”
2017-03-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7897 (2017) · source
“More than 20 million people across four countries now face starvation and famine. Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Many more will suffer and die from disease. Children will be stunted and out of school. Livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost. Communities' resilience will rapidly wilt away. Development gains will be reversed. Many will be displaced and will continue to move in search for survival, creating ever more instability across entire regions. The warning call and appeal for action by the Secretary-General can thus not be understated. It was right to take the risk and sound the alarm early, not wait for the pictures of emaciated, dying children on the world's television screens to mobilize a reaction and the funds. The United Nations and humanitarian partners are responding.”
2017-03-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7897 (2017) · source
“Humanitarian partners scaled up their response to reach the most vulnerable groups threatened by violence, food insecurity and famine, particularly in north-east Nigeria - many Council members saw that for themselves on their recent mission to the region. Fourteen donors have pledged a total of $672 million, of which $458 million is for humanitarian action in 2017. That is very good news; I commend those who made such generous pledges, and I urge others to follow suit. More is needed, however, to secure the $1.5 billion required to provide the assistance needed across the Lake Chad region. We stand at a critical point in our history. Already, at the beginning of the year, we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the establishment of the United Nations.”
2017-03-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7897 (2017) · source