UN relief chief terms U.S.-Russian Syria deal as "a welcome development"

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, on Wednesday said that the announcement of a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, scheduled to come into effect this weekend, is "a welcome development and a long-awaited signal of hope to the Syrian people."

In briefing the UN Security Council on the current humanitarian situation in Syria, O'Brien, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, echoed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for the parties to abide by the terms of the agreement to bring about an immediate reduction in violence as a first step towards a more durable ceasefire and to create the conditions necessary for an increased humanitarian aid.

Also on Wednesday, the 15-nation Security Council welcomed the U.S.-Russian agreement on partial ceasefire in Syria as "an important step toward alleviating" the suffering of the Syrian people, who have been through dire humanitarian situation since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in March 2011.

The council members also reiterated their call for "an immediate, sustained and unhindered humanitarian access" to the Syrian people in need, particularly those in the besieged areas in Syria.

On Monday, Ban welcomed the U.S.-Russian agreement as "a signal of hope" to end the Syrian conflict, which has been going on for nearly five years.

The agreement was announced Monday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the terms of a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria scheduled to come into effect on Feb. 27.

Kerry and Lavrov reached a provisional agreement on terms of a cessation of hostilities in Syria, where more than 250,000 people have been killed since March 2011. The two foreign ministers are co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) Ceasefire Taskforce formed in Munich, Germany.

O'Brien noted recent aid efforts, in which 62 trucks reached 40,000 beneficiaries in Madaya, three trucks reached 1,000 beneficiaries in Zabadani and 18 trucks reaching 20,000 beneficiaries in Foah and Kefraya.

The convoys have proceeded without any major security incident, although there have been delays in delivery as parties disagree over the terms of the agreement. Overall he said, the United Nations and its partners have reached 110,000 people in besieged areas, and have approval to reach a further 230,000 people, including through the airdrops in Deir Ezzour.

A World Food Programme (WFP) plane dropped the first cargo of 21 tonnes of items into Deir Ezzour, he said, adding that initial reports from the Syrian Arab Red Cross team on the ground said that pallets have landed in the target area as planned.

In total this past month, the UN and its partners had reached millions of people in need with assistance through all available routes, O'Brien said.

Specifically, the WFP had delivered food for 3.6 million people, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) had provided water, sanitation and hygiene supplies for more than 2 million people and the World Health Organization (WHO) had delivered nearly 660,000 treatments.

Significant amounts of supplies had been delivered during February through cross-border operations authorized by the Council. During the first three weeks of the month, food assistance reached some 960,000 people, representing a 48 percent increase compared with the same period in January, O'Brien said.

Health supplies had also been delivered for some 300,000 people in February. Large multi-truck conveys were cross the three-border crossings of Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa and Ar Ramtha on a nearly daily basis. Enditem