UNSC Should Expand Cross-Border Aid in Syria as Current Levels Insufficient - Official

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2020) The UN Security Council should expand cross-border humanitarian delivery operations in the northwest of Syria because the current levels of assistance are not sufficient, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said on Monday.

The existing authorization of the cross-border mechanism, first approved by the UN Security Council in 2014, is set to expire on July 10.

"The current levels of assistance delivered across the border are far from sufficient. The northwest continues to suffer a major humanitarian crisis," Lowcock told a UN Security Council meeting.

"The cross-border operation needs to be scaled up further."

Lowcock noted that the United Nations currently provides food for 1.3 million people every month through the existing mechanism, but added that an increasing number of children show signs of chronic malnutrition amid rising food prices. The situation leaves many families and individuals dependent on aid as the only source of food.

"Some say they are also cooking weeds to supplement the food rations. Such is the level of desperation," Lawcock said.