Jordan rallies for renewing UN Syria aid mandate

AMMAN — Jordan on Tuesday voiced keenness to address the humanitarian suffering in Syria as the UN Security Council renewed a mandate to deliver relief assistance to Syrians across borders with neighbourring countries.   

Since its election as a nonpermanent member at the UNSC, Jordan has attached great importance to the humanitarian conditions in Syria and worked to end the suffering of the Syrian people and to spare the region more repercussions of the crisis, Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dina Kawar said in remarks at the UNSC. 

She added that Jordan worked last year with its partners at the council, Luxembourg and Australia, to implement resolutions 2139, 2165 and 2191, concerning sending relief aid, including food items and medical supplies, across the borders from Jordan and Turkey to millions of Syrians rendered vulnerable by the five-year conflict, which has left 250,000 people dead and forced millions to take refuge in other countries. 

In continuation of these efforts, Jordan worked with Spain and New Zealand during the past weeks, consulting with all UN Security Council members, concerned countries and humanitarian agencies to renew the mandate granted by the UN and its executive partners to dispatch humanitarian assistance inside Syria, which expires in the first week of 2016. 

Kawar thanked all council members for their cooperation and flexibility, leading to a unanimous  adoption of the renewal decision.

 She  thanked the Security Council members for their confidence and their close cooperation with Jordan in the past two years, noting that  the council  should continue to work to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria, especially as millions of Syrians are still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.