The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, addressed all Syrians on Thursday ahead of peace talks to end the civil war. Syria lies in ruin from the five year conflict between the government and rebels. Famine is threatening millions.
Mistura said, “The horror is in front of everyone’s eyes” and the sides must be able to compromise to reach a peaceful solution. The peace talks are scheduled to begin on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mistura asked the Syrian people to “raise your voice” and demand an end to the war. Mistura added “you Syrian people, you women, men and children of Syria saying: Enough, khalas, kefaya, enough killing, murdering, torturing, prisons.”
A first step of the Intra-Syrian peace talks will be to get a nationwide ceasefire. This will allow food and other humanitarian aid to reach trapped Syrians.
The humanitarian crisis continues to worsen. The director of the World Food Programme, Etharin Cousin, told the UN Security Council “Every day, we receive alarming reports of lack of food, of lack of water, of acute malnutrition, and of death.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the lead agency fighting hunger in Syria. The WFP is feeding about 4 million Syrians a month and also million of refugees in the Middle East. It’s a struggle reach many parts of Syria and some areas are completely blocked off by the armies.
Cousin added “Preventing a humanitarian crisis requires humanitarian pauses and unconditional, monitored ceasefires to allow food and other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, to support the necessary vaccinations and other health campaigns.” Right now there are 500,000 Syrians completely blocked from receiving humanitarian aid. The number of Syrians living in hard to reach areas is about 4.5 million.
A peace settlement is the only way for the suffering to end. It’s the only way to save Syria.
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Author William Lambers 