World's major humanitarian organizations issue joint appeal to end suffering in Syria

Some 120 UN and other humanitarian organizations issued a joint appeal early Thursday morning, urging people around the world to raise their voices to call for an end to the Syrian crisis.

"We, leaders of humanitarian organizations and UN agencies, appeal not only to governments but to each of you, citizens around the world, to add your voices in urging an end to the carnage, to urge that all parties reach agreement on a ceasefire and a path to peace," they said.

"Today, some 13.5 million people inside Syria need humanitarian assistance. That is not simply a statistic, these are 13.5 million individual human beings whose lives and futures are in jeopardy," they stressed.

The appeal also outlines a series of immediate, practical steps that can improve humanitarian access and the delivery of aid to those in need inside Syria.

These include unconditional and monitored ceasefires to allow food and other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, a cessation of attacks on civilian infrastructure, freedom of movement for all civilians and an immediate lifting of sieges by all parties.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the heads of UN Children's Fund, World Food Program, International Organization for Migrants and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are among the appealers. Endit