2023-07-11 03:21:00
The UN’s cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism, vital for millions of inhabitants of rebel areas in Syria, came to an end this Monday (10) without a Security Council vote to extend it.
The 15 Council members have been trying to reach an agreement in recent days to extend the mechanism that allows the shipment of food, water and medicine from Turkey to the inhabitants of northwest Syria, without authorization from Damascus.
The vote, initially scheduled for Friday and then postponed to this Monday, has been postponed again to Tuesday morning, the British presidency of the AFP Council said on Monday night.
Humanitarian convoy operations do not take place overnight, so ended in uncertainty. Even if there is a positive vote, they will not be able to resume activities on Tuesday morning due to the time difference with New York.
“The key is to find common ground,” said British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, who chairs the Security Council in July.
“We want to do everything we can for the 4.1 million Syrians who desperately need help,” added the diplomat, who a few days ago denounced the use of humanitarian aid as “a bargaining chip”.
An accusation that was aimed, without naming, at Russia.
The mechanism was created by the UN in 2014 and allows the delivery of humanitarian aid in northwest Syria without the permission of the Syrian government, which often denounces a violation of its sovereignty.
Initially, the mechanism provided for four crossing points, but after years of pressure, especially from Moscow – an ally of the Syrian regime – only the Bab al-Hawa post continued to operate and its authorization was reduced to six renewable months, which complicated the process. international aid planning.
According to the UN, women and children are the majority of people who need humanitarian aid to survive after years of conflict, economic crisis, epidemics and rising poverty, aggravated by devastating earthquakes.
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