FUELLING THE FIRE: HOW THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL’S PERMANENT MEMBERS ARE UNDERMINING THEIR OWN COMMITMENTS ON SYRIA
Joint Report by Aid Agencies listed below
March 2016 :: 36 pages
Overview
March 2016 marks five years of upheaval and conflict in Syria – conflict that has reduced lives to shadows and cities to rubble. The Syrian government and its allies, as well as armed opposition and extremist groups, bear the primary and direct responsibility for the horrific reality that Syria’s civilians face on this grim anniversary. They have targeted civilians, laid siege to cities and towns and denied access to life-saving assistance.

This paper examines what the UNSC demands happen in Syria, the situation since March 2015, and significant actions by the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council. In the first months of 2016 and at time of drafting this paper, some progress has been made in securing greater humanitarian access to those in besieged areas and a cessation of hostilities in parts of the country which has resulted in a significant decrease in civilian casualties. These are important steps that should be recognised and built on, but they remain fragile and limited in the context of the overall deterioration experienced by civilians inside Syria over the last horrendous year of violence.

CONCLUSION
In its resolutions and statements, the UNSC has provided a framework for easing humanitarian suffering and issued repeated demands for their implementation. The parties to the conflict hold the responsibility to implement this framework. However, as new rounds of negotiations are meant to begin, accompanied by calls for improved humanitarian access and the cessation of sieges, it is clear the very governments that agreed to the resolutions have been fuelling the fire of conflict.

The parties to the Syria conflict bear direct responsibility for the horrific consequences it has unleashed. The failure to end five years of violence, however, also rests with the governments that sit on the UNSC and the ISSG.

Given the increasingly international nature of Syria’s war, the members of the Security Council and the ISSG with direct influence over the combatants on the battlefield must stand up for Syria’s people and the stability and prosperity of the wider region. Security Council and ISSG members and their allies exert real political, diplomatic and military influence.

The ability to ensure an end to the violence and suffering, and facilitate a sustainable and just peace is now imperative for the protection of civilians in Syria, the region, and beyond. [Recommendations follow]

Norwegian Refugee Council
No Peace Without Justice
Alkawakibi Organisation for Human Rights
Syria Relief Network
BINAA
Human Appeal
Syria Relief
People in Need
Big Heart Foundation
Syrian NGO Alliance
SEMA
SAWA for Development Aid
Oxfam International
Syrian American Medical Society
Syria Relief and Development
ActionAid
CARE International
Save the Children
Emessa
Baytna Syria
Bihar Relief Organisation
UOSSM
IHSAN Relief and Development
Ghiras Alnahda
Physicians Across Continents
Sham Humanitarian
Mercy Corps
Social Development International
Dawlaty
Khayr/Watan