The UN Security Council has unanimously
adopted a resolution to boost humanitarian
access in Syria
that threatens to take 'further steps' in the
case of non-compliance, demands cross-border aid access and condemns rights
abuses by the Syrian government and opposition armed groups. The 15-nation UNSC
met to vote on the resolution, co-authored by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg
amid uncertainty that Russia and China could veto the draft.
Russia and China support the Syrian
government and have vetoed three previous resolutions backed by Western nations
that would have pressed Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the three-year
conflict. The resolution demands that all parties, in particular the Syrian
authorities, "promptly allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian
access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, including
across conflict lines and across borders, in order to ensure that humanitarian
assistance reaches people in need through the most direct routes".
After the 15 nations voted in favour of the
draft, Ban told the UNSC that he welcomed the adoption of the resolution, which
if implemented quickly could ease "some of the suffering" and
"prolonged desperation" of the Syrian people. "This resolution should not have been
necessary. Humanitarian assistance is not something to be negotiated; it is
something to be allowed by virtue of international law," he said.
UN Security
Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is
one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the
maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers include the
establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international
sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council
resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding
resolutions to member states. The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946.
The Security Council consists of fifteen members. The great powers that
were the victors of World War II—China,
France, Russia, the UK, and the US—serve as the body's five permanent
members. These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council
resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates
for Secretary-General. The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve
two-year terms. The body's presidency rotates monthly between its members.
Security Council resolutions are typically
enforced by UN peacekeepers, military forces voluntarily provided by member
states and funded independently of the main UN budget. As of 2013, 116,837
peacekeeping soldiers and other personnel are deployed on 15 missions around
the world. Evaluations of the Security Council's effectiveness are mixed, and
calls for its reform pre-date the body's first meeting; however, little
consensus exists on how its structure should be changed.
