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UN Security Council extends cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria for another year

Xinhua, December 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution extending for another year the cross-border delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syrians in urgent need.

In the resolution, the council expressed outrage at the unacceptable and escalating level of violence and the killing of over a quarter of a million people, including tens of thousands of child casualties, as a result of the Syrian conflict.

The 15-nation body was distressed by the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Syria and by the fact that urgent humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance, is now required by more than 13.5 million people in Syria, said the resolution.

The resolution extended until Jan. 10, 2017, the authorization which allows the UN and its implementing partners to deliver humanitarian assistance across borders and conflict lines and similarly extended the monitoring mechanism that ensures the humanitarian nature of such aid convoys.

In the resolution 2165 adopted in July, 2014, the council authorized the cross-border delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syrians in urgent need.

Since then, the United Nations and its partners have delivered lifesavings assistance to millions of people in need in Syria, including the delivery of food assistance for over 2.4 million people; non-food items for 1.6 million people; medical supplies for 4.1 million treatments, and water and sanitation supplies for over 1.3 million people, said the resolution.

However, the council expressed grave alarm at the dire situation of the 393,700 civilians trapped in besieged areas in the Syria, and noted that in 2015, the United Nations has only been able to reach 3.5 percent of people in besieged areas with health assistance and 0.7 percent of people with food assistance per month.

The conflict in Syria broke out in March 2011. Currently, among the 13.5 million people in Syria in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, 6.5 million are internally displaced, 4.5 million are living in hard-to-reach areas, and 393,700 civilians are trapped in besieged areas. Enditem