Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018) and 2449 (2018) - Report of the Secretary-General (S/2019/674) [EN/AR]

I. Introduction

1. The present report is the sixty-second submitted pursuant to paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 2139 (2014), paragraph 10 of resolution 2165 (2014), paragraph 5 of resolution 2191 (2014), paragraph 5 of resolution 2258 (2015), paragraph 5 of resolution 2332 (2016), paragraph 6 of resolution 2393 (2017), paragraph 12 of resolution 2401 (2018) and paragraph 6 of resolution 2449 (2018), in the last of which the Council requested the Secretary-General to provide a report at least every 60 days, on the implementation of the resolutions by all parties to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic.

2. The information contained herein is based on data available to agencies of the United Nations system and obtained from the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and other relevant sources. Data from agencies of the United Nations system on their humanitarian deliveries have been reported for June and July 2019.

II. Major developments

Box 1

Key points: June and July 2019

1. Despite the memorandum on the stabilization of the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area signed by the Russian Federation and Turkey on 17 September 2018, the number of civilian casualties, including confirmed civilian deaths, has increased over the reporting period, with more than 500 civilians reportedly killed since the escalation in hostilities in April. There have been more than 500,000 instances of displacement and significant damage has been caused to civilian infrastructure.

2. Health-care and education services continued to be attacked, with 17 incidents affecting health-care facilities and assets confirmed by the World Health Organization, and 55 incidents affecting education facilities verified by the United Nations Children’s Fund. The incidents all occurred in the north-west of the country and resulted in the killing and injuring of women and children, people in need of medical care and humanitarian workers.

3. Humanitarian conditions in Rukban, on the Syrian-Jordanian border, remain dire. Plans are under way for a United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission to reach the area, following two earlier convoys, in close coordination with the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and relevant parties on the ground. Movements out of Rukban continued throughout the reporting period, and as at 31 July 17,724 people had departed towards Government-controlled areas. In recent months, the United Nations reiterated its request for access to Rukban in order to facilitate transport for those expressing a voluntary and informed desire to leave and to deliver critical needs-based humanitarian assistance. Approval was received from the Syrian authorities on 31 July.

4. In the north-east of the county, the Hawl camp in Hasakah Governorate now hosts 68,823 people, 94 per cent of whom are women and children. During the reporting period, more than 300 Syrian internally displaced persons departed the camp and returned to their areas of origin in Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr Governorates. A small number of foreign nationals returned to their home countries and thousands more are due to be repatriated to Iraq, pending final agreement by the Governme nt of Iraq and an agreed date. Humanitarian access to the annex hosting other foreign nationals (non-Syrian and non-Iraqi) for the sustained delivery of services continued to be limited.

5. In June and July 2019, United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners reached around 6 million people in need across the Syrian Arab Republic through all response modalities. Humanitarian assistance provided by United Nations agencies included food for an average of 3.6 million people in need each month and more than 2.1 million health and medical treatments to people throughout the country. Cross-border assistance, authorized under Security Council resolutions 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2393 (2017) and 2449 (2018), remained a vital part of the humanitarian response. During the reporting period, 1,160 trucks (30 consignments) delivered life-saving assistance to more than 1 million people through cross-border deliveries, including food assistance for some 827,000 people in June and July (monthly average).

6. Response efforts from within the Syrian Arab Republic continued at scale in response to assessed needs throughout much of the country, even as access to some areas and for some humanitarian actors, including the United Nations, remained limited. During the reporting period, a number of access constraints were reported in parts of Idlib, northern Hama and south-eastern Aleppo, owing mostly to heightened hostilities, although some response efforts are under way in those areas. Access was also limited in Raqqah city and east of the Euphrates River in Dayr al-Zawr, including the Hajin enclave, owing mostly to widespread explosive hazard contamination. Some areas in the south of the country, including Rukban, and in parts of eastern Ghutah were also not accessible in a sustainable manner to some humanitarian actors owing to administrative regulations.