UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2021) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed an Independent Senior Advisory Panel that will seek ways to strengthen the humanitarian deconfliction mechanism in Syria, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Thursday.
Humanitarian agencies provide information to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) through the deconfliction mechanism about the locations of civilian and humanitarian subjects in Syria. The United Nations has shared the coordinates with the US-led coalition forces, Russia and Turkey, to protect civilian facilities from possible attacks.
"Following consultations, the Secretary-General decided to appoint a three-person Independent Senior Advisory Panel on humanitarian deconfliction in the Syrian Arab Republic," the statement said. 'The Panel will conduct its work independently and will provide the Secretary-General with advice on how to strengthen the deconfliction mechanism operated by OCHA in Syria."
The Advisory Panel, which has commenced its work on January 11, is composed of the Chair, Jan Egeland of Norway, Erika Feller of Australia and Radhouane Noucier from Tunisia.
The experts will also advise on the recommendations on the deconfliction mechanism presented by the board of Inquiry and on lessons that can be learned, according to the statement. The panel will submit a final report to Guterres by May 10.
In 2019, Guterres announced that the internal Headquarters Board of Inquiry would investigate a series of incidents in which UN-supported facilities in a dozen locations in northwest Syria were destroyed or damaged in airstrikes since September 2017. The probe was launched after two-thirds of the UN Security Council expressed concern over the lack of inquiry.
In June, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said Russia decided to quit the deconfliction mechanism because it was abused by terrorists.
