The United Arab Emirates reaffirmed its readiness to work with all parties to ensure that the needs of millions of Syrians are met after Russia vetoed the extension of the mechanism to provide vital humanitarian aid to the Syrians.
The Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the Security Council, Lana Nusseibeh, stressed that the lives of the Syrians are at stake, and indicated that it is a shared responsibility to ensure the delivery of basic needs to the Syrians. She said diplomacy had failed and stressed the importance of maintaining the credibility of the Security Council.
The State Delegate to the Council explained that given the outcome of the vote (yesterday, Friday), the necessary needs on the ground, and taking into account everyone’s concerns, we are ready to work with all parties on conciliation to ensure that millions of Syrians needs are met.
The UAE’s delegates to the Security Council expressed their deep regret at the Security Council’s failure to take a decision to extend the cross – border assistance mechanism in Syria, despite the enormous efforts made over the last few weeks.
She said: “We had hoped that this council would be able to send a positive message today to the Syrian people, especially on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, a sacred occasion to remind us all of the importance of giving and compromising. “
The UAE delegation thanked Norway and Ireland, the pen holders of the Syrian humanitarian file, for their tireless work to reach a compromise. She said that the E10 spoke with one voice about its commitment to implementing this Council’s mandate, and we hope that this unit will encourage all Council members to redouble their efforts in the coming hours and days to reach agreement and expand the cross-border mechanism to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid to millions of needy Syrians.
Lana Nusseibeh explained that the UAE supported “a 12-month renewal of the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism because of the clarity it provides to humanitarian actors and projects. We are ready to work with all parties on other options, including a nine-month extension to ensure that the needs of millions of Syrians are met this winter and that the mechanism does not end in the winter months, when the needs of ordinary Syrians are most acute.
At the end of his speech, delegates from the UAE said that the lives of Syrians are at stake. The Council’s credibility is also at stake. Mistakes are not an option. She stressed that “our collective responsibility is to ensure that the Syrian people are not left without access to the most basic needs. It is our serious duty to move beyond the political scene, and as a diplomat I would urge to make our work, find the necessary compromise and enable the pen holders to do so, and we are close and we believe that what needs to be done can be done.
The UN mechanism has been in place since 2014 and allows the transfer of aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing at the Syrian-Turkish border for more than 2.4 million people in the Idlib region. The mechanism expires on Sunday. On Friday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution extending the mechanism for providing humanitarian aid across the border to Syria without Damascus’ consent for a year, and Moscow only accepted a six-month extension.
