UN / SYRIA CROSS-BORDER HUMANITARIAN RESOLUTION

STORY: UN / WORLD POPULATION PROSPECTS
TRT: 3:38
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

DATELINE: 12 JULY 2022, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations

12 JULY 2022, NEW YORK CITY

2.Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, Council members heading to their seats
4. Close up, Security Council president
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ireland:
“It's no secret that this has been a difficult negotiation. As pen holders, Ireland and Norway have engaged diligently and constructively with all Council members. After the draft resolution we put on the table last week was vetoed, we redoubled our efforts to find a path through so that the Council could adopt a resolution which would allow humanitarians to continue to reach those in dire need and Syria.”
6. Close up, Security Council president
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ireland:
“The authorization for the cross-border operation expired at midnight on Sunday night. For the Syrian people and for all those humanitarians who work diligently to assist them, this has been a long and uncertain couple of days. The fear that vital supplies of aid will be cut generated significant uncertainty and fear.”
7. Close up, Security Council president
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ireland:
“We recognize that a six-month renewal is shorter than we, as pen holders, aimed for when we started this negotiation. We recognize also that the vast majority of the Council shared that view and the view of humanitarian actors on the ground that a 12-month mandate was needed. What is most important today is that the Council with this resolution keeps the cross border mechanism open and operating. That humanitarian assistance continues to reach those in need. This draft resolution will facilitate further early recovery efforts and encourage regular follow up meetings on implementation.”
9. Med shot, President of the Security Council announcing the vote
10. Various shots, Security Council Members voting on the first draft proposed by Norway and Ireland
11. UPSOUND (English) Ronaldo Costa Filho, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Brazil:
“I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. Will those in favor of the draft resolution contained in document S/2022/546, please raise their hand. Those abstaining, will they please raise their hand? Those against? The result of the voting is as follows: 12 votes in favor, no votes against, three abstentions. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2642."
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations:
“The resolution we adopted today keeps the critical cross border mechanism open. It allows for its life saving humanitarian operation to continue for those in humanitarian need in northwest Syria, who have been in an uncertain situation with the negotiations running into overtime. We can assure them and that's what matters. The cross-border operation is their lifeline. And today, the cross-border operation remains.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

The Security Council adopted a resolution re-authorising cross-border humanitarian aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border for an additional six months, until 10 January 2023.

The resolution had 12 votes in favor, no votes against, and three abstentions: the United States, United Kingdom, and France.

The draft was produced by the humanitarian penholders on Syria, Ireland and Norway.

The vote followed intense, difficult negotiations, said Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Ireland.

“It's no secret that this has been a difficult negotiation. As pen holders, Ireland and Norway have engaged diligently and constructively with all Council members. After the draft resolution we put on the table last week was vetoed, we redoubled our efforts to find a path through so that the Council could adopt a resolution which would allow humanitarians to continue to reach those in dire need and Syria,” Nason explained.

The authorisation, which was most recently renewed through resolution 2585 of 9 July 2021, expired on Sunday (10 July). The draft resolution states that an additional six-month extension will require a separate Security Council resolution.

According to the Irish diplomat, “for the Syrian people and for all those humanitarians who work diligently to assist them, this has been a long and uncertain couple of days.”

“The fear that vital supplies of aid will be cut generated significant uncertainty and fear,” Nason added.

The Permanent Representative recognized that a six-month renewal was shorter than what Ireland and Norway, as pen holders, had aimed for, and that the vast majority of the Council shared that view.

Despite that, Nason said, “what is most important today is that the Council with this resolution keeps the cross-border mechanism open and operating” and “humanitarian assistance continues to reach those in need.”

Addressing the Council, the Permanent Representative of Norway, Mona Juul, said the resolution allows for “the life saving humanitarian operation to continue for those in humanitarian need in northwest Syria, who have been in an uncertain situation with the negotiations running into overtime.”

“We can assure them and that's what matters. The cross-border operation is their lifeline. And today, the cross-border operation remains,” Juul concluded.

On Friday (8 July), the Council failed to adopt two draft resolutions which would have renewed the mechanism: one proposed by the penholders that was vetoed by Russia, and another initiated by Russia that received only two affirmative votes (China and Russia).