FN har opprettet fire arbeidsgrupper som skal støtte FNs spesialutsending for Syria, Staffan de Misturas arbeid.
- Jeg ser fram til å tilrettelegge FNs viktige arbeidsgruppe for beskyttelse av sivile og humanitær tilgang i Syria. Arbeidet blir ekstremt vanskelig og partene står langt fra hverandre, men vi må benytte enhver anledning og gjøre alt vi kan for å redusere lidelsene, voldsbruken og konfliktnivået i Syria. Av hensyn til de forestående samtalene kan jeg ikke kommentere arbeidet i arbeidsgruppen. Min rolle som tilrettelegger for disse samtalene vil ikke påvirke mitt arbeid som generalsekretær i Flyktninghjelpen eller vårt arbeid for fordrevne i og utenfor Midtøsten, sier generalsekretær i Flyktninghjelpen Jan Egeland.
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson of the Special Envoy for Syria
As part of the implementation of the initiative set out by Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura before the Security Council on 29 July 2015 and endorsed by the Council in its Presidential Statement of 17 August 2015 (S/PRST/2015/15), the Special Envoy and his Deputy Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy met over the last two days with the following facilitators appointed by the Secretary-General to head the intra-Syrian thematic working groups, under the direction of the Special Envoy:
Mr. Jan Egeland as facilitator for the Safety and Protection thematic Working Group; Mr. Nicolas Michel as facilitator for the Political and Legal Issues thematic Working Group; Mr. Volker Perthes as facilitator for the Military, Security and Counterterrorism thematic Working Group; and Ms. Birgitta Holst Alani as facilitator for the Continuity of Public Services, Reconstruction and Development thematic Working Group.
They discussed draft agendas with a view to ensuring coordination and parallel progress of the Working Groups.
Mr. de Mistura has just returned from consultations with Syrian interlocutors most recently in Damascus and Istanbul. These visits complement ongoing OSE outreach to regional capitals and elsewhere. The Special Envoy is now heading to NY to carry these discussions forward in the margins of the General Assembly.
“The Working Groups are intended to provide Syrians with a platform to address in-depth themes that are certainly not new, but have lacked to date sustained intra-Syrian discussion. It is hoped that their outcomes could eventually set the stage for a Syrian agreement to end the conflict on the basis of the Geneva Communique,” Mr. de Mistura said.
While the participation of Syrians is central for this process to move forward, the Security Council has also “emphasised the need for robust international and regional assistance” in support of the efforts of the Special Envoy.
Mr. de Mistura will continue consultations with relevant actors to accelerate such support. “This is the defining humanitarian challenge of our times,” he reiterated. “The Syrians deserve that we move faster towards a political solution”.
22 September 2015, Geneva
