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Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontiers
June 7 2013
Speech Delivered to the UN Donor Conference on Syria on June 7
Mego Terzian, President, MSF-France
JUNE 6, 2013
Six months after the first international donor conference for Syria,
humanitarian aid is failing. Security and living conditions have
deteriorated dramatically. The population living in areas controlled
by opposition groups have almost no access to official international
aid. Across the country, there are enclaves surrounded by intense
fighting, where virtually no aid is reaching the people trapped
inside.
While international attention has focused on chemical weapons, our
teams on the ground are seeing that it is above all the bombing, the
consequent displacement of millions of people, and the targeting and
collapse of the Syrian health system that are causing the largest
number of deaths.
.
We can attest to the immense needs in the north of Syria, where MSF
operates five health facilities in opposition-held areas. Already this
year, in addition to carrying out thousands of surgical procedures, we
have vaccinated nearly 70,000 children against measles and delivered
almost a thousand babies, as women have lost access to maternal care.
We are providing treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis and typhoid, as
well as other communicable diseases and chronic illnesses such as
hypertension and diabetes.
Yet given the scale of need, what MSF is doing is extremely limited.
Most aid in the country is coming through Syrian solidarity networks,
but they are struggling in the face of massive medical needs. Their
medical assistance is focusing primarily on providing treatment to the
war wounded.
But what of the pregnant women? And the sick? The Syrian medical
networks need more support.
The medical imperative is to meet critical health needs, wherever they may be.
We are doctors and nurses striving to fulfil that imperative
impartially. But, under the current circumstances, we cannot work to
our maximum capacity.
Medical assistance is being targeted; people in Syria today are
risking their lives in seeking and providing healthcare.
We negotiate access with all parties, but we have yet to receive
official authorisation to work in Syria.
Restrictions on the delivery of aid within the country are increasing.
Humanitarian personnel who cross front lines risk being shot or
kidnapped.
So if the aid arriving through neighbouring countries is stopped, a
lifeline into Syria will be severed. Millions of Syrians will be left
without medical services.
Neighbouring countries must continue to allow the flow of essential
medicines, medical supplies, and medical personnel into Syria.
Borders must also remain open to allow refugees to escape. In Iraq,
the last remaining open border crossing, at Rabi'a, is now closed.
Thousands are stranded inside Syria, along a sealed border more than
800 kilometres long.
In countries bordering Syria, MSF teams are witnessing overcrowded
hospitals and poor access to healthcare for refugees and a growing
number of local residents. Official aid is dwindling in Lebanon, for
example, yet tens of thousands of refugees have still not been
registered by the United Nations. Without registration papers, these
people are not eligible for most aid, including health services.
An immediate international financial effort is vital to support public
health services in host countries and improve the living conditions of
refugees.
All actors represented here today hold the key to increasing
lifesaving assistance in Syria, wherever there is need, and to
improving the living conditions of people fleeing to neighbouring
countries. Yet the reality is that the official international aid
system is not working.
We must - and we can - find other solutions.
Donors must increase funding through the aid channels that are able to
provide effective humanitarian assistance, even if those channels are
not part of the official aid system.
Neighbouring countries must lighten administrative procedures to
facilitate the delivery of urgent aid.
Finally, we must reiterate that warring parties must refrain from
attacking health structures and respect the safety of humanitarian
convoys. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to access to all victims of
the conflict, whether by crossing front lines or crossing borders.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=6808&cat=speech
From: A. Papazian
June 7 2013
Speech Delivered to the UN Donor Conference on Syria on June 7
Mego Terzian, President, MSF-France
JUNE 6, 2013
Six months after the first international donor conference for Syria,
humanitarian aid is failing. Security and living conditions have
deteriorated dramatically. The population living in areas controlled
by opposition groups have almost no access to official international
aid. Across the country, there are enclaves surrounded by intense
fighting, where virtually no aid is reaching the people trapped
inside.
While international attention has focused on chemical weapons, our
teams on the ground are seeing that it is above all the bombing, the
consequent displacement of millions of people, and the targeting and
collapse of the Syrian health system that are causing the largest
number of deaths.
.
We can attest to the immense needs in the north of Syria, where MSF
operates five health facilities in opposition-held areas. Already this
year, in addition to carrying out thousands of surgical procedures, we
have vaccinated nearly 70,000 children against measles and delivered
almost a thousand babies, as women have lost access to maternal care.
We are providing treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis and typhoid, as
well as other communicable diseases and chronic illnesses such as
hypertension and diabetes.
Yet given the scale of need, what MSF is doing is extremely limited.
Most aid in the country is coming through Syrian solidarity networks,
but they are struggling in the face of massive medical needs. Their
medical assistance is focusing primarily on providing treatment to the
war wounded.
But what of the pregnant women? And the sick? The Syrian medical
networks need more support.
The medical imperative is to meet critical health needs, wherever they may be.
We are doctors and nurses striving to fulfil that imperative
impartially. But, under the current circumstances, we cannot work to
our maximum capacity.
Medical assistance is being targeted; people in Syria today are
risking their lives in seeking and providing healthcare.
We negotiate access with all parties, but we have yet to receive
official authorisation to work in Syria.
Restrictions on the delivery of aid within the country are increasing.
Humanitarian personnel who cross front lines risk being shot or
kidnapped.
So if the aid arriving through neighbouring countries is stopped, a
lifeline into Syria will be severed. Millions of Syrians will be left
without medical services.
Neighbouring countries must continue to allow the flow of essential
medicines, medical supplies, and medical personnel into Syria.
Borders must also remain open to allow refugees to escape. In Iraq,
the last remaining open border crossing, at Rabi'a, is now closed.
Thousands are stranded inside Syria, along a sealed border more than
800 kilometres long.
In countries bordering Syria, MSF teams are witnessing overcrowded
hospitals and poor access to healthcare for refugees and a growing
number of local residents. Official aid is dwindling in Lebanon, for
example, yet tens of thousands of refugees have still not been
registered by the United Nations. Without registration papers, these
people are not eligible for most aid, including health services.
An immediate international financial effort is vital to support public
health services in host countries and improve the living conditions of
refugees.
All actors represented here today hold the key to increasing
lifesaving assistance in Syria, wherever there is need, and to
improving the living conditions of people fleeing to neighbouring
countries. Yet the reality is that the official international aid
system is not working.
We must - and we can - find other solutions.
Donors must increase funding through the aid channels that are able to
provide effective humanitarian assistance, even if those channels are
not part of the official aid system.
Neighbouring countries must lighten administrative procedures to
facilitate the delivery of urgent aid.
Finally, we must reiterate that warring parties must refrain from
attacking health structures and respect the safety of humanitarian
convoys. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to access to all victims of
the conflict, whether by crossing front lines or crossing borders.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=6808&cat=speech
From: A. Papazian