Mark Lowcock warns of the failure to extend the mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, has warned the UN Security Council of the failure to extend the work of the mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria.
This came in Mark Lowcock’s speech, during a virtual session of the UN Security Council, to discuss developments in the Syrian crisis.
Lowcock said, “The Security Council’s mandate for the UN cross-border aid mechanism in northwestern Syria (the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Turkey) will expire in just 6 weeks.”
Lowcock stressed, “Failure to extend this mechanism will lead to an immediate end to the direct deliveries (of aid) by the United Nations.”
The UN official warned against stopping the delivery of aid to 1.4 million people per month, and the supply of medicine and education supplies to tens of thousands of children, mothers and students.
“Decisive support to the water, sanitation, health and camp management sectors will also end, as will the United Nations’ ability to direct nearly $ 300 million in annual funding for operations to local partners on the ground,” he added.
The UN official said, “A thousand trucks loaded with aid cross to the northwest through Bab Al-Hawa every month, and this is important, albeit far from enough.”
The mechanism for delivering cross-border UN aid to Syria from the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border will be completed on July 11.
