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Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, The situation in Syria is catastrophic and getting worse by the day. At least 60,000 people have been killed during the last 22 months. I am pained, personally, to think how many more people will be killed if the current situation continues. Four million people are in immediate need. Ten per cent of all Syrians have fled from their homes inside the country and more than 700,000 have left Syria. Nearly two million children are in need of humanitarian aid. And every day Syrians face a cascading catalogue of horrors: unrelenting violence … dwindling supplies of food and medicine … and human rights violations including sexual violence and arbitrary arrests and detention. The use of heavy weapons in residential areas has destroyed whole communities and neighbourhoods. About half the public hospitals and one quarter of the schools have been damaged. Food prices are rising and the water and electricity infrastructure is being systematically destroyed. For years, Syria was known for its generous support to those in need. Until recently, Syria was the third largest host to refugees – including more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees and 63,000 Iraqi refugees. Now, these displaced people are at the highest risk of being displaced once again. I saw some of the effects of this crisis last month when I visited Za’atari camp in Jordan and Islahiye camp in Turkey. Many of the refugees had lost beloved family members. Others had watched as their homes were destroyed. I met children whose only wish was to return home, to go to school again, to play with their friends, to live normal lives. They were just five or six years old. I told them that the United Nations and the whole international community are standing with them