03:58Switzerland: 'We all failed' - Egeland on failure of Aleppo Medevac initiative
Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland spoke at a press conference alongside UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva, Thursday, on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
De Mistura stated that he was "disappointed" that the planned Medevac [Medical evacuation] initiative in eastern Aleppo did not take place, adding that although blame has been pointed all around, the Syrian conflict is a "dirty, ugly, horrible war, so we should never be surprised when things go wrong with a lack of trust or when pre-conditions are put by either side."
"We all failed," stated Egeland, adding that there "simply was too little trust, there simply was too much fear. There was too many misunderstandings." However, Egeland continued "We're not giving up, we're starting again today."
Egeland went on to announce that the Syrian government approved 23 of the 25 besieged areas for the UN's November initiative for humanitarian aid, denying only two of the locations, eastern Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, that were fully denied for UN humanitarian operations next month. Egeland also went on to mention UNICEF's announcement that a total of five schools were hit during the last week of conflict within Syria.
The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, went on to add that "In the last days, we have been able to reach 180,000 people in the besieged areas. That's in Alweir, Madamiyya, Douma and by airdrops, Deir-ez-Zor."
03:58Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland spoke at a press conference alongside UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Geneva, Thursday, on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
De Mistura stated that he was "disappointed" that the planned Medevac [Medical evacuation] initiative in eastern Aleppo did not take place, adding that although blame has been pointed all around, the Syrian conflict is a "dirty, ugly, horrible war, so we should never be surprised when things go wrong with a lack of trust or when pre-conditions are put by either side."
"We all failed," stated Egeland, adding that there "simply was too little trust, there simply was too much fear. There was too many misunderstandings." However, Egeland continued "We're not giving up, we're starting again today."
Egeland went on to announce that the Syrian government approved 23 of the 25 besieged areas for the UN's November initiative for humanitarian aid, denying only two of the locations, eastern Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, that were fully denied for UN humanitarian operations next month. Egeland also went on to mention UNICEF's announcement that a total of five schools were hit during the last week of conflict within Syria.
The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, went on to add that "In the last days, we have been able to reach 180,000 people in the besieged areas. That's in Alweir, Madamiyya, Douma and by airdrops, Deir-ez-Zor."