Security Council Briefings

An imminent priority is of course the humanitarian situation, and let me fully reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeal when he briefed you on Wednesday. Civilians across the country desperately need life-saving assistance and help building resilience.

AS DELIVERED 1 UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA GEIR O. PEDERSEN BRIEFING TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON SYRIA 26 May 2021 Thank you, Mr. President, (Amb. Zhang Jun, China), 1. Let me start by highlighting the grave situation of ordinary Syrians. It is a tragic irony that this time of relative…

We take note that today a presidential election is being held under the auspices of the current constitution. As indicated previously, this is not part of the political process called for in Security Council resolution 2254. The UN is not involved in this election and has no mandate to be involved.

The Syrian Women’s Advisory Board are meeting in Geneva this week - for the first time in person for a year. I thank the Swiss authorities for enabling this. WAB members have been very active in providing me and my team with vital information from the ground and counsel on the political process.

Allow me to start by reminding all of us of the intensity of the conflict in Syria. Next week we will be commemorating the tenth anniversary of the start of this terrible crisis, and the lack of progress in the political process is high on our collective mind.

As the Syrian people face the year 2021, a decade of conflict has seen them experience death, injury, displacement, destructions, detention, torture, terror, violations, indignities, instability, intervention, occupation, division, de-development and destitution on a massive scale.

Let me brief you today on the Constitutional Committee, the situation on the ground, and the search for a wider process towards a political solution that implements resolution 2254.

It is an honor for me to address this Council today. The Special Envoy is continuing a set of engagements - he is, in fact, today in Riyadh - in support of the UN-facilitated political process.

As we mark this month twenty years since the passage of Security Council resolution 1325, let me recall the central role that Syrian women must play and are indeed playing in the political process mandated by resolution 2254