Security Council Resolves to Deliver Lifesaving Assistance in Syria
The Security Council renewed Tuesday the authorization for United Nations relief agencies and their partners to use routes across conflict lines and border crossings to deliver lifesaving assistance to millions in north-west and southern Syria through Turkey and Jordan.
In a resolution adopted by a recorded vote of 12 in favour and three abstentions (Bolivia, China and Russia), the 15-member Council called on Syrian authorities “to expeditiously respond to all requests for cross-line deliveries submitted by the UN and its implementing partners and to give such requests positive consideration.”
Also in the resolution, according to the UN, the Council underscored the need for a political solution to the conflict in Syria and urged all concerned stakeholders to facilitate a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition to end the conflict.
“The Syrian people will decide the future of Syria,” stressed the Council, according to a UN report.
The use of cross-line routes was first authorized by the Council in July 2014 through a resolution that also tasked the UN with monitoring the loading of the aid consignments as well as their openings, such as by customs officials, to confirm the humanitarian nature of these relief consignments.
The renewal on Tuesday authorizes the cross-border aid deliveries as well as the monitoring of consignments until 10 January 2019.
Courtesy: UN
