Echoing a call from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and humanitarian colleagues for an immediate nationwide ceasefire in Syria, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic and its ramifications will become a multiplier of humanitarian needs in the war-torn country without a stop in hostilities and the ability to reach people in need.
In a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, the humanitarian chief underscored that Syria’s health-care system, which has been decimated by almost a decade of war, could not be expected to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest of nations.
“If this virus is behaving similarly in Syria to how it has elsewhere – and that is our assumption for now – then tragedy beckons,” Mr. Lowcock said. “We cannot expect mitigation measures to succeed where millions are displaced in crowded conditions, without adequate sanitation, and no assets or safety net to fall back on.”
Mr. Lowcock’s briefing focused on the status of COVID-19 testing and response across Syria; the humanitarian situation in the north-west of the country, which he said remains alarming despite the ceasefire; the issue of medical supplies in the north-east; the situation in Rukban; and a summary of what the humanitarian system is delivering to relieve the suffering of people across the country.
“COVID-19 and its ramifications will become a multiplier of humanitarian needs in Syria,” he said. “More than ever, this demands a response that uses every possible means of reaching people in need, wherever they are located, and ensures that measures taken outside Syria, which would restrict access to essential medical and other related supplies, are reorganized so that they do not have residual effect.”
In addition to an immediate nationwide ceasefire, the humanitarian chief said that the response will also require supplying critical medical items previously provided through the Al Yarubiyah border crossing. In addition, it will require a renewal of the cross-border authorization for north-west Syria, to meet the enormous humanitarian needs that continue there.
Original source: UNOCHA
Published on 29 April 2020
