Ending the suffering of Syrians must be put above geopolitics, UNSC told

More than 600 Syrians have submitted a demand to the UN Security Council for immediate diplomatic action to end the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria.

They demand that the permanent members of the Security Council, and specifically the United States and Russian Federation, begin immediate and serious diplomatic negotiations, independent of their other international political interests. The purpose of these meetings must be to jointly develop an action plan to save Syrians from the devastation of inhuman living conditions, both inside Syria and in refugee camps.

Presented to the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN New York, the current joint penholders on the Security Council for Syria, the demand has been signed in a personal capacity by a number of individual members of the Women’s Advisory Board to the UN Special Envoy and members of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, in addition to opposition figures and political and community leaders, professionals, farmers and students and many more.

The list of signatories reflects the diversity of political, ethnic, sectarian, and religious affiliations in Syrian society. It has been signed by women and men both outside of Syria (60%) and inside the country (40%) from the Northeast and Northwest as well as areas under the control of the Syrian government.

The work was coordinated by Dr Mouna Ghanem of the Syrian Women's Forum for Peace. The demand demonstrates that it is still possible to build consensus between Syrians, and expresses the position of significant bloc of Syrians, especially after the failure to achieve progress in the UN-led political track in Geneva based on UNSC Resolution 2254.

The demand supports the last briefing given to the Security Council by Geir Pederson, UN Special Envoy to Syria on February 9, 2021. In that briefing, the Special Envoy announced the failure of the fifth round of the Constitutional Committee meeting, emphasizing that it is unlikely that the “constitutional track or any other [track] move forward” without “bridging the current divides in the international community.” He called for “constructive international diplomacy” on Syria, highlighting the fact that “many of the issues of concern to the parties are indeed not constitutional, and not even in the hands of the Syrians themselves.” The Special Envoy further stressed that the political settlement of the conflict “must be negotiated” because there has yet to exist a consensus. Finally, he expressed confidence that the main key players understand the situation and that one of them must take the initiative.

The demand’s signatories pointed to the Special Envoy’s briefing as yet another confirmation of the UN’s lack of any plan or program to address the severe deterioration of living conditions for Syrians in Syria and those in refugee camps in neighboring countries. Poverty and hunger have reached an all-time high over the past six months. According to the UN food program, the number of those who suffer from food insecurity has increased from 9.3 to 12.4 million. Furthermore, the recent and multiple devaluations of Syrian currency have dramatically reduced average monthly income. The exchange rate of the local currency to USD has increased from 45 SYP before the conflict to 3,400 at the beginning of this year, decreasing the average monthly income to less than 20 USD per month.

Moreover, the consequences of COVID-19 have been exacerbated by the complete failure of the war-destroyed Syrian health care system. These conditions are further compounded by other preexisting forms of suffering, such as internal and external displacement, death, murder, imprisonment, terrorism, and the oppression of women.

Ending the suffering of Syrians must be put above geopolitics.