Trucks carrying aid packages from the World Food Program drive through the town of Saraqib in the northwestern Idlib province, Syria, on June 12, 2022. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution to re-authorize cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for six months.
The current authorization expired on Sunday after the Security Council failed on Friday to adopt any resolution that would have renewed the mechanism.
Resolution 2642, which was adopted with 12 votes in favor, with three abstentions, decides to extend the authorization for aid deliveries through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the border with Turkey till Jan 10, 2023. A further extension of an additional six months will require a separate Security Council resolution
Russia vetoed a draft resolution prepared by Ireland and Norway that sought a 12-month re-authorization. A Russian draft resolution, which would have renewed the mechanism for six months, failed to gain the necessary votes for approval.
Resolution 2642, which was adopted with 12 votes in favor, with three abstentions, decides to extend the authorization for aid deliveries through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the border with Turkey till Jan 10, 2023. A further extension of an additional six months will require a separate Security Council resolution.
Britain, France and the United States abstained.
The resolution requests the UN secretary-general to provide a special report on the humanitarian needs in Syria no later than Dec 10, 2022.
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It requests the secretary-general to brief the Security Council monthly and to provide a report on a regular basis, at least every 60 days, on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2642, and on compliance by all relevant parties in Syria.
It further requests the secretary-general to include in his reports overall trends in unhindered and safe UN cross-line operations, in particular on their progress to all parts of Syria, on early-recovery projects, as well as detailed information on the humanitarian assistance delivered through cross-border operations, including their transparency, the distribution mechanism, the number of beneficiaries, operating partners, locations of aid deliveries at district-level and the volume and nature of items delivered.
The resolution welcomes ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in Syria, including water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity, and shelter early-recovery projects, undertaken by humanitarian organizations
The resolution encourages the convening of a Security Council Informal Interactive Dialogue every two months with the participation of donors, interested regional parties and representatives of the international humanitarian agencies operating in Syria, in order to regularly review and follow up on the implementation of Resolution 2642, including progress in early-recovery projects.
The resolution welcomes ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in Syria, including water, sanitation, health, education, and electricity, and shelter early-recovery projects, undertaken by humanitarian organizations, and calls on other international humanitarian agencies and relevant parties to support them.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed the hope that the Security Council would renew the cross-border mechanism after six months. "We asked for a renewal of one year," he told reporters after the adoption of Resolution 2642, "I strongly hope that after six months it will be renewed."
Cross-border aid is essential for the people of Idlib. It is a matter of life and death for many of them, he said.