UN says no aid improvement in Syria despite vote

March 29, 2014 - The United Nations has said that there has been no humanitarian improvement for millions of Syrians since the Security Council passed a resolution last month to increase aid deliveries. UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said that much of the blame lay with President Bashar al-Assad's government. She accused it of an arbitrary and unjustified refusal to grant aid convoys access to remoter areas. Baroness Amos said violence, including sexual violence, continued to increase. The Syrian government has yet to respond to her allegations but has consistently argued that it is doing its utmost to get food and medical supplies to people in less accessible areas.

In February, the Security Council called on all parties to allow aid to cross conflict lines and borders. "The situation for millions of desperate people has not improved," Baroness Amos said. "In fact, conflict and violence have intensified over the past four weeks with many people killed and injured." She said that since 22 February there had been about 300 cases of sexual violence recorded in the Damascus area alone. Baroness Amos's remarks come five weeks after the Security Council, in a rare moment of unanimity on Syria, demanded greater access to deliver humanitarian aid. (Source: BBC