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: We witnessed devastation and suffering in Syria in 2016 at levels that defy comprehension. We witnessed people dying of starvation, with the pictures of emaciated, starving children from the besieged town of Madaya staining our conscience. There were the constant, harrowing images of bombs and mortars raining down on schools, medical facilities, internally displaced settlements, public markets and critical water networks. We saw a shocked, blank stare from five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, his silent face covered in blood and dust after being pulled from the rubble caused by an air strike in eastern Aleppo. We are still horrified by reports of rescue and medical workers teams, Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers and humanitarian personnel attacked while on duty.”
2017-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7870 (2017) · source
“We now need to redouble our collective efforts to meet the growing needs. During my many travels to the Lake Chad basin over the decades, I have been struck by the tremendous resilience and generosity of the people. Their ability to cope with severe hardship and shocks is second to none. My hope is that today's discussion will take us further towards a collective response that is commensurate with the desperate plight, and the almost unique resilience, of the people in the Lake Chad basin.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Together, we simply must do more, and from here it is funding that is key. In addition, I call on the Council to maintain and enhance its support for national and regional action, that is, security, political as well as humanitarian; support for the conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin being organized in Norway on 24 February; support for development strategies to help sustain recovery and peace; and support for the engagement of local organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international NGOs. Over the past 12 months, the crisis has not only persisted, but grown in dramatic fashion. Serious protection concerns remain, and the food security situation is critical. In the face of this reality, we have made progress in scaling up the response, but it is still not enough.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Donors have demonstrated increasing commitment to the crisis in the Lake Chad basin, contributing more than $238 million to the humanitarian response in the Lake Chad basin in the second half of 2016, thus tripling their contributions compared with the first six months of the year. This led the appeal for the Lake Chad basin in 2016 to be 49 per cent funded. But it is that, 49 per cent, so we can do only less than half of what we know is needed. Despite this acceleration of contributions, which I commend, we need donors to dig even deeper. We also need more donors to come on board. And, as the Council will appreciate from all that I havejust set out, the 2017 humanitarian response plan and appeal for the Lake Chad basin has doubled relative to the one in 2016, reflecting the deteriorating situation in the region, to $1.5 billion.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Today, the situation is different, as there is growing global attention and focus on the Lake Chad basin, and a clear recognition, including by the Governments of the countries affected, that this is a major humanitarian crisis and not just a security situation. In Nigeria, the epicentre of the crisis, the United Nations has a new and strong leadership in place and a close coordination with the Government, as I briefed the Council earlier, and mechanisms to iron out tensions as and when they arise. I am very heartened to learn of the Council's proposed visit to the area in the coming period, subject to arrangements being finalized.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“For example, supporting agriculture will be key to allowing people to re-establish their livelihoods and to avoid creating dependency on aid. In north-east Nigeria, many farmers have missed three planting seasons in a row. It is vital to support them immediately, as doing so now would allow them to prepare their land and plant their crops ahead of the next rainy season, in June. As the Council is aware, initially, 19 months ago, it was extremely difficult, despite repeated events and statements, to get the global community's attention focused on the humanitarian issues of the people in the Lake Chad basin; it was as though I was shouting into an empty room.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Poverty, underdevelopment and environmental degradation need to be addressed through longer- term assistance, supporting the sustained efforts of the Governments of the countries affected. As humanitarians, we are ready to continue to scale up and to work closely with development partners, in line with the outcomes of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. I would like to call on Member States to ensure that development and political actors strengthen longer-term investments to address the root causes of the conflict. This is the time to stand in solidarity with the people of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and the Niger. This crisis is urgent. Without our action, our political engagement and sustained humanitarian and development assistance, we will not be able to prevent this from becoming an even more protracted crisis.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“The regional humanitarian crisis that has significantly deepened and broadened with the despicable actions of Boko Haram takes place in an extremely fragile and rapidly changing part of the world, one that contains many of the elements - poverty, unemployment and the absence of prospects and opportunities for youth - conducive to both violent extremism and protracted humanitarian need. There is a clear need for continued action and attention from the international community and the Security Council. In addition to the urgent provision of life-saving assistance to those in need, we must also address the root causes of the crisis, particularly at the community level.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“At the same time, several of the Governments in the Lake Chad basin are experiencing fiscal constraints as they face economic recession and are also involved in a costly military operation against Boko Haram. Their means to respond to the humanitarian crisis are thus limited and vastly surpassed by the scale of the needs. In September 2016, in the margins of the General Assembly, my Office organized a high-level event at which the Presidents of Chad, the Niger and Nigeria, and a senior Minister from Cameroon, all joined me in calling for humanitarian assistance for the Lake Chad basin, which was followed by new pledges of $163 million by donors at the same event; I thank them, a good result, but insufficient.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“The Nigerian Government, for example, appointed a Chief Humanitarian Coordinator in October 2016 and in the last few weeks has set up platforms both at the capital and the State level for close coordination between the Government and the humanitarian community. And just in the last week, Nigeria's Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiatives has now adopted a three-phase reconstruction and rehabilitation plan, with an immediate focus on comprehensive relief efforts, social stabilization and early recovery to address the needs of 7 million people over the next 12 months. I welcome this and indeed other initiatives taken by the Governments of the four countries affected to provide immediate assistance to the people in need.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“I would like to thank all Member States that supported that vital work through their contributions to the CERF, and I would urge every one here other than the three Security Council members who have already done so to make pledges for the CERF for 2017. Last December, during the CERF pledging conference for 2017, the President of the Niger himself, Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, described the CERF as a central and indispensable funding mechanism in support of humanitarian action to relieve the suffering of so many people across the Lake Chad basin. I am pleased to report that we have a close cooperation with the Governments of the countries affected and that they are taking a fast-increasing lead in the humanitarian response.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“More than 4 million people have had access to primary health care services through Government-run health centres and clinics set up in both IDP camps and host communities. Approximately three quarters of a million people continue to have access to safe water, and more than 1 million people have access to sanitation facilities meeting international standards. More than 100,000 children have access to safe temporary learning spaces. Nearly 200,000 traumatized children have been provided with psychosocial support. In support of the scale-up, since July 2015, within a month of my taking up this post, I have released over $91 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to 3 million people affected by the crisis in the Lake Chad basin region.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Over the past six months, together with each of the Governments in the Lake Chad basin region, we have taken significant steps forward in scaling up the humanitarian response. For example, the United Nations, with new leadership in Abuja and in Maiduguri, and its partners in Nigeria are reaching more than 2.1 million people with food assistance, more than 4 million with emergency primary health care and more than 1.7 million with water and sanitation, despite a difficult and high-risk environment for aid workers. Since the beginning of 2016, UNICEF has provided the following support to children in crisis-affected areas. Approximately 160,000 children under 5 years of age have been reached with lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“In July 2016, I briefed the Council that 244,000 children in Nigeria's Borno state were severely acutely malnourished. Today, that number has grown to 300,000 children, and up to 450,000, as we must also include those from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Despite such worrying trends, there is hope that 2017 will yet prove to be a turning point for the people affected by the crisis. As the nature of the conflict changes and an increasing number of areas are coming under Government control, now is the time to act decisively to expand humanitarian assistance and protection, as well as basic services, and thereby lay the groundwork for early recovery and reconstruction, so as to prevent this from becoming a protracted crisis.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Despite all the assistance going in today, it is clear that, given the forecasts that the situation may get even worse and that the numbers of those in need may continue to increase, our planning should be guided by those pessimistic assumptions. And that is all in addition to, and aside from, the chronic severe and moderate acute malnourishment across the wider Sahel region - to the west and north of the Lake Chad basin - affecting millions of people, mainly children, women, the elderly, the sick and those living with disabilities. Children in north-east Nigeria and in the Lake Chad basin are particularly vulnerable in this situation, and reports indicate that the mortality rates for children under the age of 5 in individual internally displaced persons (IDP) locations have reached a level of four times the emergency threshold.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“That therefore has resulted in the staggering increase in the numbers of very vulnerable people. The Multinational Joint Task Force has also driven many Boko Haram terrorists and agents back out of Cameroon, Chad and the Niger, thereby concentrating more challenges and needs in north-east Nigeria. For those reasons, food and nutritional insecurity have reached extreme levels, especially in parts of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in Nigeria, with 5.1 million people food-insecure at crisis and emergency levels. In the worst affected and least accessible areas, severe forms of hunger have been reported.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“What started as a protection crisis has become a major food and nutrition crisis as well - today one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. More than one year ago, there were 3 million severely food-insecure people in need of assistance across the Lake Chad basin area. Despite the United Nations and partners' mobilizing response, today there are 7.1 million. As the Nigerian Government has scaled up its security offensive over the past six months, it has recovered land and released captured people and communities trapped at the tyrannous hands of Boko Haram, thereby revealing large numbers of oppressed, hungry and abused persons so quickly that it has outpaced the humanitarian response's ability to accelerate its action as well as our ability to raise additional funds from the international community to keep up.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Upon their release, many of the survivors continue to be treated by their own communities as suspected Boko Haram sympathizers and face deep stigma preventing them from reintegrating effectively into society. In response, the United Nations and its partners have provided care and support to 5,900 women and children formerly associated with or captured by Boko Haram who have been victims of sexual and gender- based violence. However, those and other protection activities must be scaled up in order to ensure that the survivors receive the necessary medical care, psychosocial support and livelihood support. We also need to work even more closely with the Government and the communities to prevent the stigmatization of those women.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“As I witnessed during my latest mission to Nigeria and the Niger, about 80 per cent of the displaced persons are staying with host communities that are themselves among the world's poorest. But they have nevertheless generously opened their homes to the displaced. The protection needs that I highlighted during my briefing in July remain dire. Civilians face violations of humanitarian and human rights law every day, including death, injuries, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, disappearances, forced displacement and forced recruitment. In north-east Nigeria alone, more than 7,000 women and girls have been subjected to Boko Haram-initiated sexual Violence, including forced marriage, rape, abduction and slavery.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Some 2.4 million people are currently displaced, and the vast majority of them - more than 1.5 million - are children. While many families would undoubtedly prefer to return to their areas of origin, continued severe insecurity, limited livelihood opportunities and the lack of essential services still make that difficult, if not impossible, despite considerable encouragement, if not pressure, from local authorities. Members of the Council will recall that, in my most recent briefing, I spoke of how many internally displaced people, like Mustafa, whom I met at the Konduga camp near Maiduguri, had been forced from their homes in Bama in the Lake Chad basin in mid-2015. And when you are torched out of your home, there is no home to return to.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Although Boko Haram has lost much of the territory that it once controlled - but by no means all of it - raids and suicide bombings targeting civilians continue to cause widespread death and destruction, fear and psychological and physical trauma. Those threats have wiped out livelihoods and vital infrastructure and prevent people from accessing essential services. In July 2016, when I last briefed the Council on the Lake Chad basin (see S/PV.7748), approximately 9 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. Since then, the crisis has grown further, and there are today 10.7 million people in need ofassistance, including 8.5 million in north-east Nigeria and another 1.6 million in the Far North region of Cameroon.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: I thank you, Sir, for this opportunity to brief the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad basin. I particularly want to thank Assistant Secretary-General Zerihoun for so clearly and comprehensively setting up the context, the current dynamics and the options for actions. I especially appreciate that my remarks will be complemented by the genuine report from the ground by Ms. Fatima Yerema Askira of the Borno Women Development Initiative, who will be following me via video teleconference from Maiduguri, The humanitarian crisis across north-east Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and the Niger, triggered by the horrendous, violent and inhuman campaign of Boko Haram, is deepening.”
2017-01-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7861 (2017) · source
“I say this with the representative of South Sudan present here today. The international community and the Council itself have repeatedly said, "Never again" -after Srebrenica and Rwanda. Given the clear facts and evidence in South Sudan presented this evening, how many more clues do we all need to move from our anxious words to real, preventative action? How many lives, women, men and children can we all save if we and those with influence over the parties act decisively today?”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Finally, I draw the Council's attention, as did the Secretary-General just a moment ago so powerfully, to the recent call made by his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on the imminent risk ofviolence escalating along ethnic lines with the clear potential for genocide. There is no greater urgency than to prevent that from happening. Millions ofwomen, men, girls and boys are already suffering. It is imperative that all do what is in their power to stop the current trajectory and collectively help South Sudan and, above all, the South Sudanese people avert a cataclysmic infernal event and find a path to get back on a track to peace and security for all its citizens. I was going to stop there, but allow me as the Council's humanitarian adviser to add one more point.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“My message today is therefore three-fold. First, if a political solution is not urgently found to stop the violence, the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan will not only grow but will cascade way beyond anyone's control, not least, that of the Council. There must be a cessation of violence. There is no alternative. Secondly, collective leverage must be exerted to ensure the facilitation of unhindered access to all those who require assistance in all areas of the country. As part and parcel of that, there must be real commitment to protect humanitarian workers. Meanwhile, those who killed, attacked and raped humanitarian workers must be prosecuted and held to account just as the impunity of those who attack civilians must come to an end.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“As I have stated before, including in Juba, Wau and Aweil, during my visit in August, steps and action must be taken once and for all to remove those obstacles, which are unacceptable and run contrary to the parties' obligations under international humanitarian law. It is critical that all humanitarian organizations are granted free, safe and unhindered access to all people in need wherever they are. While we welcome steps taken by the Government to address some of those challenges, including the establishment of the Humanitarian High Level Oversight Committee, it is vital that commitments be translated immediately into concrete and effective action. South Sudan is on the brink. Decisive action to end the violence is needed, and it is incumbent upon the Council to make sure that the necessary action is taken.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Where towns are controlled by one party to the conflict and surrounded by another, we continue to face major challenges to reaching people in need owing to the active conflict and access denials, particularly in Yei, Central Equatoria, in which we estimate that tens of thousands of people who have been unable to make the long and costly journey to Uganda remain displaced in areas surrounding the town and unable to access assistance and in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, in which tens of thousands of people outside the town have been largely cut off from aid for months. The recent proliferation of armed actors has increased the complexity of access negotiations and heightened risks to aid workers.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“That assistance has been delivered based on assessed needs, targeting people in the most severe need in all areas of the country. Against the backdrop of a humanitarian situation that is a relentless descent into this catastrophic abyss ofhopelessness, fear, intimidation, irreversible damage, destruction, stunting and death, an increasing number of South Sudanese are looking to humanitarian actors for assistance. Yet access to those most in need continues to be restricted in some areas of the country. Last month, 100 reports of humanitarian access incidents were documented - the highest number in any month since June 2015. I am appalled to highlight that approximately 67 per cent of those incidents involved violence against humanitarian workers or assets.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Despite those immense challenges, humanitarians have delivered life-saving aid to approximately 4.7 million people this year, including nearly 3.6 million, who were reached with food assistance or emergency livelihoods support; more than 195,000 severely malnourished children, who were admitted for treatment; more than 2 million who were provided access to clean water; more than 1 million, who were reached with emergency shelter and vital non-food items; and nearly 200,000 children, who were administered with the pentavalent vaccine against five major diseases. More than 18,000 survival kits - an inter-agency lightweight package of supplies designed to be easily carried by people on the run - have been dispatched to some of the most remote locations.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Despite demarches from the United Nations, there have been no explanations. That is simply unacceptable, and those incidents must stop. To be clear - our NGO partners deliver around 70 per cent of all humanitarian assistance in South Sudan. Their presence and programming are fundamental to the continued life-saving response. Without national and international NGOs on the ground, food cannot be delivered to scale; emergency medical relief cannot be provided to all those who require it; malnutrition cannot be adequately treated; and life-saving access to clean water to prevent the spread of diseases such as cholera will be hampered.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“During the horrific attack on the Terrain Hotel in July, humanitarian workers were sexually assaulted, raped and murdered. Over the past months, reports of harassment have become numerous and routine. Beyond the ongoing insecurity, aid organizations are now facing increasing levels of bureaucratic obstruction and intimidation, mainly by the Government of South Sudan, but also by parts of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition. In the past four weeks alone, there have been four serious incidents in which South Sudanese authorities have arrested, detained or deported senior staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). No formal charges have been presented in any of those cases. In another case, one of the largest South Sudanese NGOs had their office in Juba shut down by authorities, again without documented cause.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“With reference to the prevalence of gang rape, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week that it is "running out of words to describe the horror". At the very moment when needs are growing and deepening, the ability of humanitarian partners to provide life-saving assistance timely and effectively is diminishing at an alarming pace. National and international organizations continue to work tirelessly to provide assistance in one of the most dangerous and challenging operating environments in the world today. I want to express my deep respect and admiration for their commitment and courage. But everyone needs to know that it comes at a high cost. So far, at least 67 humanitarian workers have paid with their lives - 12 ofthem since July. The humanitarian community is also being targeted in other ways.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Since December 2013, 106 health facilities have closed, while at least 29 have been looted or destroyed. As a result, the sick or wounded, including survivors of rape, often have nowhere to go to get treatment. Women and girls continue to face heightened risks of sexual violence, particularly by armed actors, with rape used as a weapon of war. In Wau in February and June, and in Juba in July, hundreds of women reported rapes and gang rapes. Other reports have come in from Bentiu, Leer, Malakal, Yambio and other locations across the Equatorias, including of abductions and rapes. Those reported attacks often occur at armed checkpoints. There have also been multiple reports of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls who leave protection-of-civilians sites to gather firewood and food.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“More than 1 million children under the age of five are now estimated to be acutely malnourished. Recent screenings in Torit, Lafon and Ikotos in Eastern Equatoria have found proxy global acute malnutrition rates above the emergency threshold. At the height of the lean season in 2016, approximately 4.8 million people - more than one in every three people in South Sudan - were estimated to be severely food insecure. That number will increase in 2017 because of the ongoing conflict, economic decline and poor agricultural yields. Basic services are severely stretched and in many areas only partially functioning, if at all. Fewer than half of the country's medical facilities are operational, and even when operational they have the capacity to provide only minimal services, given chronic lack of essential medicines.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Children make up around half of all those who are displaced, and more than 9,000 children are registered as being unaccompanied, separated or missing. More than 17,000 children are believed to have been recruited by armed actors since the conflict began. Fewer than half of primary school-aged children are currently enrolled in schools. One in four schools is closed, primarily due to insecurity, and learning in general has been disrupted by the displacement of teachers and schoolchildren alike. There has been one lost generation and now another, and much capacity to rebuild South Sudan one day, somewhere ahead, has also been lost. Hunger and malnutrition levels are disconcertingly high and encompass communities in places that were considered to be relatively food secure less than a year ago.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“People flee with almost nothing - just the clothes on their backs and whatever few belongings they are able to carry. Their journeys are mostly perilous, due to insecurity, leg-sapping marshland to slog slowly through, or desiccated, inescapable heat, and always with a lack of food, water and shelter. I have received more and more harrowing reports of families being separated with little to no provisions. The sick, disabled and elderly are simply, terrifyingly, being left behind to an inhumane and unknown or sadly at times a too well- known fate and of attacks, including killing, rape and the abduction of young men. For children, as ever the future of that young country, the cost of protracted conflict continues to be particularly brutal.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“The humanitarian community expects that number to rise by a staggering further 20 to 30 per cent in 2017, due to the destructive violence on the ground and forced displacement compounded by food insecurity, economic decline, destitution and a breakdown of basic services. Approximately 3.1 million South Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes - 1.3 million of them across borders as refugees and more than 1.8 million internally. Many South Sudanese have been displaced multiple times, failing to find the safety and security they so desperately need. Since July alone, more than 383,000 people have gone to Uganda while the others have moved to Ethiopia, the Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Violence and attacks against civilians have continued. Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes and hunger has deepened. There are numerous accounts of horrific gender-based and sexual violence, with most perpetrators walking free. Last week, the conflict in South Sudan entered its fourth year. Since December 2013, civilians have borne the brunt and faced increasingly appalling humanitarian conditions. We are now witnessing a scale of need for assistance and protection that demands our urgent, relentless attention and action. This year, some 6.1 million people - half the population of that young nation - required humanitarian assistance.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: I wish to add my condolences for the tragic loss of Ambassador Andrey Karlov today. I fully align with the Secretary-General's request of the Council and of the Government of South Sudan. I thank you, Mr. President, for this timely opportunity to brief the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in South Sudan. In my briefing to the Council on 22 June, and in the written submission issuedjointly with the Office ofthe High Commissioner for Human Rights in August, I highlighted the spread of violence to new areas and its humanitarian consequences. Six months later, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated dramatically. This will not come as any surprise to anyone in the Council, since they have heard and have been following the reports, as I have, month upon deteriorating month.”
2016-12-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7846 (2016) · source
“More than anything, I urge all Council members for a political solution so that we can give some semblance of hope to the many millions of Syrian families who will in fact fail to be able to go to sleep tonight, but they will be hungry and they will be sick and they will be fearing for their lives.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“I should add that in all my points of advocacy for the suffering people caught up in this crisis, the overwhelming question that comes to me from politicians, the affected people and journalists is: "Why on Earth can the Security Council not come together and unite to put a stop to this suffering?" The people of Syria have suffered far too much and for far too long. United Nations humanitarian agencies, SARC and our non-governmental organization partners are doing everything they can to meet those needs. But, as we have repeatedly said, the solution to this crisis does not rest with us.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“What they and we need to see above all is three things: first, real respect and protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure; secondly, safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access; and thirdly, an end to brutal sieges for once and for all. These are neither new nor complicated demands, but common threads of humankind that we all have a responsibility to rally around. And those parties that cannot or will not live up to their basic obligations should know that they will one day be held accountable for their actions.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“Overall, the United Nations estimates that up to 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) now live in western Aleppo. The United Nations, SARC and partners continue to respond to the needs of pre-existing IDPs in western Aleppo, as well as the wave of new displacement from eastern Aleppo in recent days. While the world is watching events in Aleppo, another 700,000 people are in other besieged areas across the country, mostly in rural Damascus surrounded by Government forces. As winter approaches, they are trapped and petrified, and as they watch the chilling events in Aleppo unfold, they are asking: Will Ibe next? It may be too late for many of the people of eastern Aleppo, but surely the Council can come together, stop the brutality and also prevent that a similar fate does not befall other Syrians.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“Furthermore, truckloads of humanitarian supplies stand ready to deliver humanitarian assistance to eastern Aleppo from Turkey and western Aleppo. For the sake of humanity, we call on and plead with the parties and those with influence to do everything in their power to protect civilians and enable access to the besieged part of eastern Aleppo before it becomes one giant graveyard. Indiscriminate shelling also hits civilian-populated areas of western Aleppo, killing and injuring civilians. Civilian infrastructure, including schools and medical facilities, has also been destroyed, as I reported to the Council last week (see S/PV.7817). Since July, approximately 70,000 people have been displaced within western Aleppo as a result of fighting and indiscriminate shelling.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“With few, if any, ambulances available, we are receiving reports of wounded civilians being rushed to medical facilities on vegetable carriages. Access to clean water is scarce. People have resorted to scavenging as United Nations humanitarian food stocks have been exhausted while prices of scarce basic food and fuel supplies have dramatically risen to levels that most remaining civilians are unable to afford. People are trapped and terrified. They are running out of time. Just as we are ready to respond to all those displaced, the United Nations and its partners also remain ready to provide immediate assistance and medical evacuations for civilians inside besieged parts of eastern Aleppo in line with the United Nations humanitarian four-point plan that we have been seeking to implement since early November.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“I am extremely concerned about the fate of the remaining civilians in the besieged areas of eastern Aleppo city. These people have been besieged for nearly 150 days now and most, simply, do not have the means to survive for much longer. Intensified fighting and aerial bombardment continues to occur resulting in civilian casualties and injuries. As of today, as a result of the bombardment and shelling, all hospitals have been directly hit several times, and there is no properly functioning hospital in eastern Aleppo city except for one trauma unit. All other primary medical facilities are operating at minimum capacity and do not have trauma-treatment capabilities, leaving most wounded civilians unable to get the most basic treatment.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“They are often held incommunicado and indefinitely while facing the risk ofbeing subjected to torture and ill- treatment, extrajudicial killings or being disappeared. I call on all parties to the conflict to adhere to and respect international humanitarian law. I remind all parties to the conflict that civilians and those hors de combat must be respected and protected at all times. Any evacuation of civilians must be safe, voluntary, and to a place of their choosing. Parties must allow humanitarian organizations safe and unimpeded access to bring life-saving help to those displaced and identify and respond to protection threats. And finally, it is imperative that all those displaced are allowed to return voluntarily and in safety and dignity to their homes as soon as the situation allows.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“There are also deep protection concerns that upon reaching Government-controlled areas, civilians perceived to have links or connections with non-State armed groups, including humanitarian workers, potentially face arbitrary arrests, detention or worse. Trapped in Aleppo are also dozens of humanitarian staff who have heroically assisted civilians and are now also losing their lives. According to the World Health Organization, three members of the health staff were killed adding to the many other Syrian doctors, health workers and civilians. As we have seen before, across Syria and throughout the conflict, men, women and children have been routinely arrested at Government-controlled checkpoints before being transferred to one of dozens of official or secret Government-run detention facilities.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“It is therefore absolutely vital that the Government of Syria enable us to deploy in safety and without undue restrictions all essential international and national staff to Aleppo to increase our capacity to respond effectively to those growing needs and address protection concerns for civilians. We must recognize that, even though some people have been able to flee the fighting, many have gone from one terrifying situation to what they consider to be another. Aside from the dangers associated with attempting to flee across active front lines, we have received reports that non-State armed groups are preventing civilians from leaving areas under their control.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source
“The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and local humanitarian partners supported by the United Nations are responding to the needs of internally displaced families in Jibreen, Sheikh Maqsoud and elsewhere. That includes preparing hot meals and bread to families, ensuring medical assistance to the sick and injured, providing potable water and distributing sanitation and hygiene kits, and other basic relief items such as blankets and mattresses. The United Nations has prepositioned stocks to support the response including non-food items for 45,000 people; water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition supplies for 80,000 people; and food for 150,000 people. Those stocks can be replenished within 48 hours from the United Nations hub in Homs and elsewhere as necessary.”
2016-11-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7822 (2016) · source