Statement by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, on the Middle East (Syria) - January 25th, 2023

I deliver this statement on behalf of Switzerland and Brazil, as co-penholders of the Syrian Humanitarian file.

Madam President,

First of all, we thank Special Envoy Geir Pedersen and Acting Director Ghada Mudawi for their comprehensive updates.

The humanitarian situation on the ground in Syria remains very concerning. With 15.3 million people in need of assistance, humanitarian needs are at the highest level since the beginning of the conflict. In the middle of the winter, in a context of fuel and energy shortages, the situation becomes even more dramatic.

Meanwhile, protection needs of the civilian population remain high across the country as violations of international humanitarian law continue, particularly along conflict lines. We must always keep in mind that behind the numbers and statistics of civilian fatalities there are human beings who should have been spared of the consequences of the hostilities.

We welcome, in this regard, the adoption by this Council, by unanimity, on January 9th, of Resolution 2672 (2023), which reiterates the importance of continuous humanitarian assistance to Syria, through all modalities, as we face serious challenges, such as, to name just a few:

i) the cholera outbreak, which affects all 14 governorates, and continues to spread. On a positive note, we welcome, in this regard, the ongoing vaccination campaign;

ii) food insecurity that reached alarming levels in 2022 and continues to be on the rise. Today, 15 million people need food and agriculture assistance, that means, 68% of the total population;

iii) lack of access to education to 2.4 million children in Syria. In the north of the country, 60 % of the 1400 camps do not have primary schools at all. Not only do children suffer from psychological distress but negative coping mechanisms such as child labour, child recruitment and early marriage are on the rise;

iv) gender based-violence, which still often remains overlooked. According to OCHA, 8.5 million people need assistance for gender-based violence, an increase of 1.2 million in comparison to 2022.

Another issue of concern is the chronic underfunding of the UN response plan. As all clusters remain underfunded, we risk putting lives at risk amidst winter and a cholera outbreak. The fact that operational costs of humanitarian operations are increasing due to the fuel crises and other operational challenges makes this situation even more serious.

Madam President,

When it comes to delivering life-saving aid to people in need across Syria, all channels of access should be consistently available. As co-penholders, Switzerland and Brazil support the use of all modalities in order to ensure rapid, unimpeded and sustainable humanitarian access to all people in need in Syria.

In that regard, we look forward to working with all Council members in the following months in order to address the humanitarian needs on the ground as well as the operational demands of the UN agencies and their partners.

We believe that, at the moment, the cross-border mechanism remains indispensable, as it allows the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to millions of persons in northwest Syria. The cross-border autorization allows more direct access to this affected population through operations closely monitored by the UN.

In relation to cross-line, we appreciate the efforts in place with an aim to expand the number of deliveries and welcome, in this regard, the news of an updated operational plan.

Early recovery projects have also proven central in our collective endeavor to alleviate the suffering of the people in Syria as they go beyond life saving humanitarian aid and help strengthen the resilience of communities and support the sustainability of humanitarian activities. We welcome the continuous updates on the impact of their implementation and the ongoing works aiming at their expansion.

Finally, as “co-penholders” of the Syrian humanitarian file, we commend OCHA and all other UN agencies for their tireless work and reiterate the commitment to always upholding the needs and rights of the people living in Syria, who should not be left unassisted at this time of difficulty and suffering.

*******

I will now address the political situation on behalf of Brazil.

Brazil once more thanks the Special Envoy, Mr. Pedersen, for his continuous engagement with a wide array of stakeholders in a tireless effort to foster confidence among the parties. We reiterate our support for Mr. Pedersen’s important initiative on step-for-step building measures and efforts to reconvene the Constitutional Committee. And we agree with his assessment that we need more than formal meetings of the Committee, we need renewed political will to move the process forward.

The continuous hostilities on the ground in Syria, particularly given the constant tensions in the north, remains deeply worrying. Brazil echoes the Secretary General's repeated calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, maintain ceasefires agreed upon and respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. All attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must also immediately cease in respect to international humanitarian law. And that applies to counter terrorism activities as well.

Brazil also remains very concerned about the plight of those detained and missing in Syria. In this regard, we welcome all efforts in place to try to bring answers in response to the suffering of tens of thousands of families left without any knowledge of their loved ones.

Finally, Brazil reaffirms its commitment to a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process as a means to ensure a political resolution of this long-lasting conflict. The implementation of Resolution 2254 (2015) remains centralto the main objective of this Council to contribute to bringing the conflict to an end by peaceful means.