Syria: UN-backed task force seeks aid access to besieged areas 'without delay'
Feb 13, 2016, at 03:21 pm
New York, Feb 13 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Following agreement late yesterday by diplomats meeting in Munich as part of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to work with Syrian parties to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities, a United Nations-backed task force met on Friday on quickly delivering aid to besieged towns and war-weary civilians in hard to reach areas across the country.
Syria: diplomats agree 'cessation of hostilities;' UN rights chief warns of dire situation in Aleppo
Feb 12, 2016, at 03:43 pm
New York, Feb 12 (Just Earth News/IBNS) As the United Nations human rights chief warned on Thursday of “shocking†violence and abuses in and around the city of Aleppo and other parts of war-ravaged Syria, top-level diplomats meeting in Munich on ending the crisis agreed to work out the terms of nationwide “cessation of hostilities†in the coming week.
UN mediator suspends intra-Syrian talks for three weeks
Feb 04, 2016, at 02:27 pm
New York, Feb 4 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Just two days after declaring the official start of delayed intra-Syrian talks in Geneva to end five years of bloody warfare, the United Nations mediator suspended them for three weeks on Wednesday following differences between Government and opposition delegations on the priority of humanitarian issues.
Crucial UN aid reaches Syrian town cut off by fighting for three years
Feb 04, 2016, at 01:59 pm
New York, Feb 4 (Just Earth News/IBNS) Working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), the United Nations refugee agency has delivered crucial humanitarian aid to a rural town near Damascus that has been cut off by fighting for three years, stranding thousands of residents in dire conditions without clean water or fuel for warmth.
Syria: Ban condemns bombings in Damascus
Feb 02, 2016, at 02:11 pm
New York, Feb 2 (Just Earth News/IBNS): In the wake of a "heinous" terrorist bombing outside Damascus on Sunday, which reportedly killed more than 60 people, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Syrian Government and opposition negotiators at UN-mediated talks in Geneva to "agree on immediate improvements to Syria’s dire humanitarian situation."
Syria: High Negotiations Committee arrives in Geneva where UN-mediated talks are under way
Feb 01, 2016, at 01:59 pm
New York, Feb 1 (Just Earth News/IBNS): United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has met with the delegation of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) at their hotel in Geneva following their arrival last night in Geneva, where UN-mediated intra-Syrian talks began Friday after days of delays.
Syria: UN relief agencies amplify calls for access to besieged civilians
Jan 30, 2016, at 03:15 pm
New York, Jan 30 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With United Nations-mediated talks on ending the five-year crisis in Syria getting under way today as scheduled, UN relief agencies and their partners are reiterating their appeal for unhindered access by relief workers to more than four million desperate people spread across 18 besieged areas in the war-torn country.
Besieged Syrians believe the world has forgotten them: UN relief chief
Jan 28, 2016, at 02:00 pm
New York, Jan 28 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With United Nations-backed political talks on Syria set to begin later this week, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, on Wednesday urged the entire international community to get behind the process, which seeks to ease the suffering for millions of desperate people and end "one of the most savage and brutal conflicts of the 21st century."
Failure in Syria not humanitarian but political, says senior UN relief official
Jan 27, 2016, at 02:26 pm
New York, Jan 27 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Senior United Nations relief officials working on the front lines of the conflict in Syria stressed on Tuesdaythat only a political solution will end the five-year war, insisting that humanitarians have been doing all that they can to assist millions of desperate people who have lost nearly everything and are "now beginning to lose hope that the world cares."
Delayed intra-Syrian talks, brokered by UN, to begin on Friday in 'uphill' bid for ceasefire
Jan 26, 2016, at 02:44 pm
New York, Jan 26 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Intra-Syrian talks that were scheduled to begin in Geneva on Monday under United Nations sponsorship will now start on Friday, with the first priority being a broad ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and halting the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Syria: UN agencies and 120 humanitarian organizations call for action now
Jan 22, 2016, at 01:49 pm
New York, Jan 22 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Outlining a series of immediate, practical steps that can improve humanitarian access and the delivery of aid to those in need inside Syria, more than 120 humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies issued a joint appeal on Thursday urging the world to raise their voices and call for an end to the Syria crisis.
'Sharply deteriorating conditions' in besieged areas of Syria, UN agencies report
Jan 19, 2016, at 02:43 pm
New York, Jan 19 (Just Earth News/IBNS): United Nations humanitarian agencies expressed concern on Monday that an estimated 200,000 people are facing “sharply deteriorating conditions†in the besieged western side of Deir-Ez-Zor city in Syria, while the top UN relief official stressed that the world body continues to act "impartially, neutrally and independently" to reach people in need throughout the country.
You cannot let more people die on your watch in Syria: Deputy UN relief chief
Jan 16, 2016, at 03:43 pm
New York, Jan 16 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With hundreds of thousands of Syrians living in a "nightmarish reality dictated by a conflict that respects few rules and obeys no laws," the United Nations deputy humanitarian chief told the members of the UN Security Council on Friday that they cannot let more people "die on their watch."
Syria: UN officials give first-hand accounts of horrible desperation in besieged towns
Jan 13, 2016, at 02:35 pm
New York, Jan 13 (Just Earth News/IBNS): As United Nations officials gave on-site accounts of the "horrible and terrible" situation in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, from 400 critically ill people facing death without immediate medical care to a kilo of rice costing $300, the first emergency evacuation took place today – a five-year-old girl rushed through pro-Government roadblocks for urgent surgery in Damascus.
Russia raids on Syria kills 57
Jan 10, 2016, at 03:13 pm
Beirut, Jan 10 (IBNS) At least 57 people were killed as Russian warplanes targeted with missiles the Administrative Court of Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syrian city Maarrat al-Nu’man, a monitor said on Sunday.
Calling state of besieged Syrian town 'horrendous,' UN seeks humanitarian access
Jan 09, 2016, at 02:32 pm
New York, Jan 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): As the United Nations and its partners struggled on Friday to gain humanitarian access to the Government-beseiged Syrian city of Madaya, amid reports of people starving to death or being killed while trying to leave, UN officials called the situation "horrendous…ghastly," and a potential war crime.
Syria: UN condemns archaeological destruction at Bosra
Dec 26, 2015, at 02:25 pm
New York, Dec 26 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday condemned the destruction of parts of the ancient Syrian city of Bosra in fighting two days ago, alerting the world art market to potential trafficking in artefacts from the World Heritage site.
Syria: UN condemns archaeological destruction at major World Heritage site of Bosra
Dec 25, 2015, at 02:22 pm
New York, Dec 25 (Just Earth News/IBNS) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday condemned the destruction of parts of the ancient Syrian city of Bosra in fighting two days ago, alerting the world art market to potential trafficking in artefacts from the World Heritage site.
Syria: Senior UN officials paint grim picture as Government, allies reportedly attack hospitals
Dec 22, 2015, at 03:26 pm
New York, Dec 22 (Just Earth News/IBNS)Hospitals, markets and bakeries have been hit, scores of civilians are killed and injured almost daily, and doctors themselves have become targets in escalating fighting and airstrikes in Syria, reportedly by the Government and its allies, a senior United Nations relief official reported on Monday, voicing outrage.
Dec 19, 2015, at 03:39 pm
New York, Dec 19 (Just Earth News/IBNS) In its first resolution to focus on the politics of ending Syria’s five-year-long war, the Security Council on Friday gave the United Nations an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides to talks for a political transition, with a timetable for a ceasefire, a new constitution and elections, all under UN auspices.
Syria: UN chief meets with international partners on resolving crisis
Dec 19, 2015, at 03:33 pm
New York, Dec 19 (Just Earth News/IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday joined diplomats from the International Syria Support Group meeting in New York to discuss a solution to the country’s five-year war, and he is expected to brief the Security Council later on Friday on the latest developments.
Dec 15, 2015, at 03:13 pm
New York, Dec 15 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Speaking from Damascus today, the top United Nations relief official said the situation in Syria is "unacceptable," with nearly 13.5 million Syrians in need of some form of assistance, and he urged the international community to generously support the UN's $3.2 billion humanitarian operations plan for the war-torn country.
Syria: UN envoy cites possibility of ceasefire, future political framework to end conflict
Nov 20, 2015, at 03:54 pm
New York, Nov 20 (Just Earth News/IBNS): After briefing an informal session of the United Nations General Assembly about the "deliverables" that had come out of the recent international talks in Vienna on the Syria crisis, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura on Thursday indicated the possibility of a ceasefire in the war-torn country, through continued discussions and with active inclusion of all parties involved in the conflict.
Status quo simply cannot continue in Syria: UN humanitarian chief
Nov 17, 2015, at 01:43 pm
New York, Nov 17 (Just Earth News/IBNS): More than five years since the unrest in Syria began, senior United Nations officials on Monday stressed to the Security Council that the status quo in the war-torn country cannot continue, highlighting the effects of the conflict on civilians, especially women and children.
Joint UN body to probe chemical weapons in Syria is now ‘fully operational’
Nov 14, 2015, at 04:38 pm
New York, Nov 14 (Just Earth News/IBNS) : A joint body between the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria is fully operational from Friday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has informed the Security Council.
Syria: Envoy says UN ready to support Vienna talks for political solution to conflict
Nov 11, 2015, at 02:37 pm
New York, Nov 11 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Seeking to maintain momentum for renewed diplomacy towards a political settlement of the conflict in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy on the crisis said on Tuesday that the UN is ready to support any decision taken at the next round of international talks in Vienna this weekend and that he hopes the discussions yield some deliverables for the long-suffering Syrian people – namely, a lessoning of the violence.
Syrians living tragedy and despair barely imaginable five years ago: UN relief official
Oct 28, 2015, at 02:53 pm
New York, Oct 28 (IBNS): The most senior United Nations humanitarian official on Tuesday stressed that the failure of parties to the conflict in Syria to uphold the basic tenets of international law has propelled the Syrian people to levels of tragedy and despair which could barely have been imagined five years ago.
Syria: UN human rights advisers alarmed at rise of incitement to religious violence
Oct 14, 2015, at 01:34 pm
New York, Oct 14 (IBNS): Senior United Nations human rights officials on Tuesday expressed their alarm at the rise in violent rhetoric by influential religious leaders – including calls for "holy war" against certain faiths – in relation to the situation in Syria.
Transformative political process key to resolving Syrian crisis: UN envoy
Oct 13, 2015, at 02:05 pm
New York, Oct 13 (IBNS): Only a parallel, all-inclusive transformative political process that is compliant within the framework of the Geneva Communiqué, can lead to a resolution of the ongoing crisis and Syria and tackle terrorism in the region, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country said on Monday.
At UN, Syrian Minister criticizes world leaders for inaction against terrorism
Oct 03, 2015, at 02:03 pm
New York, Oct 3 (IBNS): With his homeland awash in the blood of its people, who were making a valiant stand against terrorism, Syria's Foreign Minister criticized world leaders at the United Nations on Friday for taking only half-hearted steps to end the crisis in his country and for providing haphazard support to Syria's fight against extremism until the scourge began spreading to Europe.