Humanitarian issues

One truck carrying humanitarian assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund crossed into north-west Syria from Türkiye through the Bab al-Salam crossing, making it a total of 18 trucks this week delivering life-saving relief items from United Nations agencies via that crossing.

Debating the Russian Federation’s 11 July veto of a Security Council draft resolution that would have authorized a nine-month renewal of cross-border aid‑delivery to northern Syria, speakers took stock of its consequences for millions of Syrians in increasingly desperate need of humanitarian aid.

United Nations efforts on transferring the millions of oil barrels from the FSO Safer continue, with the replacement vessel, Nautica, now known as the Yemen, only 3 kilometres from the Safer and in final preparations for ship-to-ship transfer of oil expected at the end of the week. The Ndeavour is already alongside to help with the transfer.

The United Nations Development Programme, launching their policy brief, “The Human Cost of Inaction: Poverty, Social Protection and Debt Servicing, 2020–2023”, and noting that an 165 million additional people fell into poverty as a result of the cumulative crisis, proposed a “debt-poverty pause” for developing economies.

The Security Council today failed to reauthorize the cross-border mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Syria, unable to reach consensus on either of two resolutions that would have kept open the critical lifeline to millions of people following the expiry of its mandate on 10 July.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United States has officially accepted the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Director General Audrey Azoulay said the United States’ return as a full member and the additional resources that come with that will help UNESCO provide better support worldwide.

The United Nations’ humanitarian partners have concluded an initial damage assessment following the recent operation by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp. They report that 460 housing units were damaged, at least 40 families remain displaced and the camp remains largely without running water.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.

Describing a worsening humanitarian and security situation in Syria, amid an uptick in violence in the north-west of the country and with 90 per cent of Syrians living below the poverty line, senior United Nations officials called for the Humanitarian Response Plan to be fully funded and the cross-border aid mechanism to be renewed for another 12 months, as they briefed the Security Council today.