UN
With the New Year approaching, two senior UN officials stressed the need to give Syrians hope for the future, and stressed the importance of a comprehensive political solution that is in line with Resolution 2254, meets the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians, and restores Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.
The Security Council held a meeting of the Security Council today, Wednesday, on the situation in Syria, during which it listened to two briefings on the political and security situation, given – via video – by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator.
In the first briefing, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, referred to his visit to Damascus two weeks ago to continue his talks with the Syrian government on advancing the political process to implement Resolution 2254, noting that conditions on the ground indicate worrying trends:
The envoy of the Secretary-General said that we are dealing with a situation that comes as a result of more than a decade of war and conflict, corruption and mismanagement, the Lebanese financial crisis, the Corona virus, sanctions, and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
dangerous dynamics
He referred to what he described as dangerous dynamics affecting civilians, including reports of sporadic government airstrikes in the northwest, Turkish airstrikes in the north, and strikes in Damascus and the southwest attributed to Israel.
Six priorities are essential
The UN representative stressed the need to change these disturbing dynamics, highlighting six priorities that he said we need to focus on, indicating that he has been working on all these issues during his diplomatic meetings with the Syrian parties and with international stakeholders.
The first priority is to de-escalate and restore relative calm on the ground.
The second action is to renew this council’s humanitarian framework.
Pedersen said that unfettered access for humanitarian aid to all Syrians in need across the country, by all means, remains essential.
Third, the need to resume and make the constitutional committee meetings more substantive in Geneva.
He reiterated the United Nations’ willingness to resume the meetings of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva as soon as there is a willingness to do so by others.
Fourth, giving priority to work on the issue of detainees, the disappeared and the missing. The Secretary-General’s envoy said that he stressed in Damascus the importance of exchanging information about detainees and their release.
The fifth point is to promote dialogue in order to identify and implement initial confidence-building measures step by step.
Pedersen said that he exchanged a lengthy conversation with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad in Damascus, welcoming the invitation to return to Damascus in the new year for a new round of talks.
He said he met in Geneva with Badr Jamous, the head of the Syrian Negotiations Commission, and discussed with him a range of issues in Resolution 2254, including steps all sides can take to help build confidence and end the suffering of all.
Syrian women are still steadfast
Sixth and finally, Pederson confirmed that he will continue to rely on the advice and insights of the Women’s Advisory Council; and will continue to take into account the integration of a gender perspective throughout our work; It will continue to engage with a wide range of Syrians through the Civil Society Support Room, to promote technical dialogues on issues relevant to the political process and to ensure inclusive participation.
The year 2022 witnesses negative records being broken
For his part, Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, noted that many records were broken in 2022, but they were very negative as he put it:
Griffiths said that we have not seen such numbers since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011, noting that more than 12 million people – more than half of the population – are struggling to put food on the table, and he warned of the possibility that nearly three million people could slip into poverty. food insecurity situation.
He said that the social and economic deterioration is the worst since the beginning of the crisis, expressing his fear that the year 2023 will not provide much relief for the Syrian people.
100 people died and thousands were injured due to cholera
On a related note, Mr. Griffiths noted that the year 2022 also witnessed the resurgence of cholera for the first time in 15 years, due to the severe pressure on the health system.
The UN official stated that there were about 62,000 suspected cases of cholera as of December 18, while 100 people had died of the disease.
He said humanitarian partners have responded to the outbreak by increasing surveillance and testing capacities, monitoring water quality, training healthcare workers, and raising awareness.
Mr. Griffiths emphasized the need for additional funding to continue the outbreak response, including through the provision of medical supplies, support for laboratories and training of health workers.
The importance of renewing the cross-border aid delivery mechanism
The Under-Secretary-General said the outlook for public funding for Syria was not encouraging. The 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan has received only 43 per cent funding with just a few days left until the end of 2022.
In less than three weeks, Resolution 2642 (2022), which allows us to deliver humanitarian aid across the border into northwest Syria, is set to expire. Griffiths stressed the need to allow assistance to be provided to all those who need it, no matter where they are.
He warned that failure to renew the decision jeopardizes the delivery of much-needed aid in the midst of the cholera outbreak and with the onset of winter. He emphasized that we should not let 2023 be the year that the lifeline across borders is severed – there is simply no alternative.
Syrian delegate: My country has dealt positively with the initiatives aimed at a political solution
For his part, the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, said that his country’s government has made great efforts in combating terrorism and was able to liberate large areas of Syrian territory from the control of terrorist groups and return them to the confines of the Syrian state.
In parallel, it followed the path of local settlements and national reconciliations as a way to restore the situation to normal, in addition to issuing several presidential amnesty decrees, as he put it.
He said that these measures contributed to the return of many Syrians to their homes and normal lives, and strengthened the national unity and cohesion of the Syrian society, and achieved stability in a sustainable manner.
On the other hand, the Syrian ambassador said that his country “dealed positively with the sincere efforts and initiatives that were presented within the framework of the political track, as it supported the meetings held in the Astana format, and affirmed its follow-up to the work of the Constitutional Committee that was agreed upon at the National Dialogue Conference in Sochi in 2018, and maintained To communicate with Mr. Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy to Syria, who visited Damascus during this month, and met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, who assured him of the need for the Syrians alone to decide their fate and the future of their country without any external interference, in addition to the need to stop the violation of Syrian sovereignty, and the immediate lifting of to unilateral, illegal and inhumane coercive measures.