syria-un-20130716 3

The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors. to cover deep and ever-growing needs and many civilians are still ‘trapped’ in the city. Our team reported a harrowing journey that took 4 days through some of the most insecure parts of the country. Madam President, We are seeing a pattern replicated across Syria. Entire neighbourhoods and their inhabitants put at risk, with Government and opposition military positions being established in residential areas. Indiscriminate attacks are repeatedly launched on towns and villages. Parties to the conflict systematically and in many cases deliberately fail in their obligation to protect civilians. Reports indicate open and blatant violation of the rules of war, with total disregard for human life and dignity, in a climate of generalized impunity. The parties must be reminded that they will be held accountable for their actions. I have reported previously to the Council on the bureaucratic procedures imposed by the Government of Syria which have impeded humanitarian efforts. Partner UN agencies report some progress in the issuance of visas with many agencies receiving visas in shorter time frames. However others such as the DSS continue to face problems. Without sufficient security officers and advisers on the ground, humanitarian partners are restricted in their operations and reach. Lengthy customs procedures still delay the importation and distribution of vital humanitarian goods and equipment. Two humanitarian hubs have been opened but there is no progress on the establishment of two additional hubs requested more than one year ago. Implementing capacity remains limited. There are still only 14 international NGOs allowed to operate in Syria. The number of national NGOs approved to work with UN organisations has increased to 69, but the problems persist in the number of national NGOs allowed to operate in areas with some of the greatest needs. For example in Idlib, Dara’a and Raqqa we are only authorized to partner with 3 or fewer NGOs. For the first time in many months essential surgical medical supplies were allowed into Aleppo. We hope that distribution to all locations will be permitted. Distribution of such items has been restricted across conflict lines to opposition-held areas, in direct violation of International Humanitarian Law. The growing number of opposition groups also pose serious difficulties in negotiating access in opposition-controlled areas. UN agencies have identified 2.8 million people in the most affected areas who have been difficult to reach with assistance over the past two years, despite their desperate situation. We urgently need to address this. We need a mix of approaches to address the humanitarian challenges which face us in Syria. We need: - Designating empowered interlocutors, so that agencies can engage with someone with the necessary authority to address constraints; - Lifting bureaucratic constraints, as already mentioned; - The granting of free passage of medical supplies and demilitarizing medical facilities. We need