'The minimum necessary to meet the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people'

Thank you, Mr President. Like others, the UK would like to thank Ireland and Norway for their tireless efforts over the past few weeks to engage Council members to find a way to meet Syrians’ humanitarian needs. Without their superb efforts and consultation, we would not have got to this place today.

The United Nations has been clear over the past few months that the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people cannot be met without the renewal of the UN’s cross-border mandate for a further 12 months. We are pleased therefore that this resolution is a 12 month renewal of humanitarian access.

With regard to addressing the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people, it remains our firm view that the Security Council’s action should be determined by the United Nations assessments of humanitarian need.

We recognise that the draft put forward by the penholders represents a significant compromise to take into account the views of all Council members and is the minimum necessary to meet the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people over the next 12 months. That is why we have voted in favour of the draft resolution put forward by Ireland and Norway today.

But I would like to stress that Syria remains one of the most dangerous places for humanitarian actors - and therefore to call for maximum effort to ensure any reporting does not place their safety at further risk.

We hope that we can all, as a whole Council, use this spirit of compromise to find a political solution to this decade long conflict and the suffering of the Syrian people.

Thank you, Mr President.