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United Nations Nations Unies Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs This is the greatest crisis of our time and Mr President that is saying something, with Yemen, South Sudan, Lake Chad Basin, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and that’s not even mentioning those which are not man-made conflicts: the natural disasters like we saw in the Philippines, Nepal, Fiji and Ecuador. The Syrian people have faced an onslaught of unspeakable violence. The reports are endless: barrel bombs, hellfire cannons, cluster munitions, chemical weapons, thermite bombs, napalm, suicide bombs, mortars and rockets, snipers, bombs landing on schools, hospitals and civilian neighbourhoods, rape, illegal detention, torture, child recruitment, sieges of entire cities, starving people to death deliberately. All when you have the power with a pen – a simple pen stroke – to allow food to people. It is a chilling thought that these actions and levels of sufferings have been tolerated, with only limited international interference. When hospital attacks have become the new normal, when medieval sieges of entire cities and neighbourhoods have become a lasting reality for hundreds of thousands of people, this Council cannot look the other way. It needs to act and ensure the full implementation of its resolutions. For as long as there is impunity, this unprecedented scale of abuses and violations will simply not decline. In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict. Once again, I cannot stress strongly enough the need for a 48-hour pause in fighting to be approved by all sides and come into effect, so that safe and sustained humanitarian access is opened to all areas of Aleppo. I urge all parties to the conflict to heed the call for a cessation of violence in all its forms, first and foremost for the sake of the Syrian people. I urge all Member States: all Member States with influence over the parties, all Council members, all ISSG members, and in particular the two ISSG co-chairs, the United States and the Russian Federation, to rapidly reach agreement on the security guarantees and operational modalities for a cease-fire to the fighting in Aleppo, and elsewhere. Not only would such an agreement ease the suffering of the Syrian people, it could also facilitate a more conducive environment for the resumption of the intra-Syrian talks. Mr. President, Council members, Before I close today, I would like to make a final note. The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Yacoub El Hillo drove out of Damascus today, ending a three year appointment in one of the most difficult and dangerous positions that exist in the UN. His tireless work, his bravery, and his exceptional diplomatic skills have saved countless lives. He is not just an exemplary humanitarian, but he has been the bedrock of our humanitarian response in Syria – one that many others have been able to build on. I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank him, on behalf the entire UN and wider humanitarian ecosystem, for all he has done. We owe it to the Syrian people he has served and saved to capture the spirit and practice of his brave