UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock on Tuesday asked for a cease-fire and unimpeded humanitarian access in northwest Syria.
"We must take all possible steps for a cease-fire in northwest Syria. As I have said before, a continuous large-scale military assault will turn an already desperate situation into the worst humanitarian catastrophe the world has seen in the 21st century," he told an EU-hosted high-level meeting on Syria on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "That has to be avoided."
The UN Security Council on Thursday failed to adopt a resolution on a humanitarian truce in northwest Syria, the last piece of land still in rebel hands.
Lowcock said hundreds of civilians have lost their lives since the military escalation began in the region in late April. More than 400,000 people have fled the violence.
Sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access is required, particularly in conflict-affected areas, said Lowcock.
He asked the Security Council to renew its authorization of cross-border delivery of humanitarian assistance before the current authorization expires in January 2020. Millions of civilians in Idlib in the northwest depend on cross-border humanitarian operations, he said.
Lowcock asked for measures to protect civilians and civilian objects, including health workers and health facilities in the region.
He called for sufficient funding for UN humanitarian work in Syria as the UN humanitarian response plan is only funded by 33 percent, or 1.1 billion U.S. dollars of the 3.3 billion dollars required.
"The resources available to support urgent needs in Syria have decreased over the past year, both in absolute and relative terms," he noted.
