NEWS: Over 120 humanitarian organizations and UN agencies urge public to join them in speaking out to end suffering in Syria

NEWS:

Fuente. Lic. Ana Teresa Delgado de Marín

Fotos. Cortesía

@delgadoanat @UNICEF

More than 120 humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies* issued a powerful joint appeal today, urging people around the world to raise their voices and call for an end to the Syria crisis and to the suffering endured by millions of civilians.

The appeal also outlines a series of immediate, practical steps that can improve humanitarian access and the delivery of aid to those in need inside Syria.

Members of the public can “sign” the appeal themselves, simply by sharing it, retweeting it or liking it on social media platforms – the organizations are carrying the appeal on all their social media channels, along with a compelling 60 second video highlighting the impact of nearly 60 months of conflict in Syria.

The full text of the appeal is attached in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Chinese.

You can preview the video at http://bit.ly/1RRV6Cl. The final, downloadable version will shortly be available at: http://uni.cf/1njwZjf

Please note that all materials are embargoed until 00:01 GMT on Thursday 21 January.

Once the embargo is lifted, both the appeal and the video will be available to the public on the following link: http://uni.cf/1JfKs59

For more information contact:

Najwa Mekki, UNICEF New York, +1 212 326 7448, +1 917 209 1804,nmekki@unicef.org 

Rose Foley, UNICEF New York, Tel: +1 917 340 2582, rfoley@unicef.org

Juliette Touma, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Office, jtouma@unicef.org, +962-79-867-4628

AN APPEAL TO END THE SUFFERING IN SYRIA

Three years ago, the leaders of UN humanitarian agencies issued an urgent appeal to those who could end the conflict in Syria. They called for every effort to save the Syrian people. “Enough”, they said, of the suffering and bloodshed.

That was three years ago.

Now, the war is approaching its sixth brutal year. The bloodshed continues. The suffering deepens.

So today, we – leaders of humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisations and UN Agencies - appeal not only to governments but to each of you - citizens around the world – to add your voices in urging an end to the carnage. To urge that all parties reach agreement on a ceasefire and a path to peace.

More than ever before, the world needs to hear a collective public voice calling for an end to this outrage. Because this conflict and its consequences touch us all.

It touches those in Syria who have lost loved ones and livelihoods, who have been uprooted from their homes, or who live in desperation under siege. Today, some 13.5 million people inside Syria need humanitarian assistance. That is not simply a statistic. These are 13.5 million individual human beings whose lives and futures are in jeopardy.

It touches the families who, with few options for a better future, set out on perilous journeys to foreign lands in search of refuge. The war has seen 4.6 million people flee to neighbouring countries and beyond.

It touches a generation of children and young people who – deprived of education and traumatized by the horrors they have experienced – increasingly see their future shaped only by violence.

It touches those far beyond Syria who have seen the violent repercussions of the crisis reach the streets, offices and restaurants closer to their homes.

And it touches all those around the world whose economic wellbeing is affected, in ways visible and invisible, by the conflict.

Those with the ability to stop the suffering can - and therefore should - take action now. Until there is a diplomatic solution to the fighting, such action should include:

- Unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian organizations to bring immediate relief to all those in need inside Syria Humanitarian pauses and unconditional, monitored ceasefires to allow food and other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, vaccinations and other health campaigns, and for children to return to school

A cessation of attacks on civilian infrastructure – so that schools and hospitals and water supplies are kept safe

Freedom of movement for all civilians and the immediate lifting of all sieges by all parties

These are practical actions. There is no practical reason they could not be implemented if there is the will to do so.

In the name of our shared humanity… for the sake of the millions of innocents who have already suffered so much… and for the millions more whose lives and futures hang in the balance, we call for action now.

Now.