The United Nations Office at Geneva
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OSE Syria Press conference 08 March 2023
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19:52
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MP4
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1.2 GB
Edited News , Press Conferences
Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria - Press conference 08 March 2023
STORY: UN Special Envoy for Syria Presser
TRT: 1 min 49s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 8 March 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium-wide, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying.
- Medium-wide, Press conference room, UN Geneva, podium speakers, photographer.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria: “We need a revived, pragmatic, result-oriented political process, in which all key actors engage to unlock opportunities in the earthquake- affected areas and to unlock wider possibilities too.”
- Medium, journalists seated and working on laptops.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria: “We have actually seen in the aftermath of the earthquakes, humanitarian steps from all sides that have moved beyond previous positions, even if temporarily. A month ago, there was no prospect of the opening of more border crossings or of moves to ease sanctions in a concrete way. We have seen both moves now.”
- Medium, journalists working on laptops, speakers shown on large screen TV to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria: “No one existing actor or group of actors can resolve this conflict for long. The Government cannot, the Opposition cannot, the Astana players cannot, the Arab region alone cannot and the Western players alone cannot solve this conflict.”
- Medium, journalist’s hands either side of laptop, blurred, speakers in focus to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria: “The earthquake in itself has shown that, you know, positive steps are possible if there is a political will.”
- Medium, photographer preparing to take photo, TV cameras and TV screen showing UN Special Envoy.
- Close, journalists’ hands typing on laptops.
- Medium, speakers, side view.
Compromise is crucial in search for peace for the sake of all Syrians, urges UN negotiator
Compromise is crucial in search for peace for sake of all Syrians, urges UN negotiator
The Syrian conflict will only be resolved if all parties involved in it are prepared to make the kind of compromises on humanitarian grounds that followed last month’s earthquake disaster, UN negotiator Geir Pedersen said on Wednesday.
In an appeal for greater urgency to resolve the grinding war which erupted 12 years ago this month, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions, Mr. Pedersen insisted that he would not accept continued inaction on the UN-led push for the Syrian Government and Opposition to agree on a new Syrian Constitution.
“We need a revived, pragmatic, result-oriented political process, in which all key actors engage to unlock opportunities in the earthquake-affected areas and to unlock wider possibilities too,” the Special Envoy said, while maintaining that for well over a decade, there had been little willingness both within the war-torn country and internationally to engage with the UN’s efforts to secure a peaceful future for Syrians.
Despite these enduring obstacles, the UN negotiator emphasized how the 6 February earthquake disaster that affected northwest Syria, killing around 6,000 people, had shifted mindsets and long-held geopolitical positions that have stood in the way of peace. This was notably the case with regard to securing greater international aid access into the largely opposition-held region, and the easing of sanctions on the Syrian Government, Mr. Pedersen told journalists.
“We have actually seen in the aftermath of the earthquakes, humanitarian steps from all sides that have moved beyond previous positions, even if temporarily,” Mr. Pedersen said. “A month ago, there was no prospect of the opening of more border crossings or of moves to ease sanctions in a concrete way. We have seen both moves now.”
Acknowledging that the geopolitical fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had complicated the UN’s efforts to convene a ninth meeting of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, the Special Envoy explained that he had continued to push for a resumption of meetings in the Swiss city.
“As long as the Russians do not want to come to Geneva, the Syrian Government do not want to come to Geneva,” he said.
At the same time, a new diplomatic strategy might bear fruit, the Special Envoy said, flagging a “step-for-step” initiative that would involve the Syrian Government and the international community – “the Americans, the Europeans and the Arabs” stating “what they are prepared to do”, so that progress can be made “in a way that is verifiable”.
“No one existing actor or group of actors can resolve this conflict for long,” Mr. Pedersen continued. “The Government cannot, the Opposition cannot, the Astana players cannot, the Arab region alone cannot and the Western players alone cannot solve this conflict…The earthquake in itself has shown that, you know, positive steps are possible if there is a political will.”
ends
Teleprompter
Thank you all for joining us again on short notice.
I know it's a very busy week for you, so I'm going to turn the floor over immediately to Mr Peterson, who has opening remarks, and we will have time to take questions from in the room and online.
Mr Peterson, thank you so much, Jen, Jennifer, and good afternoon to all of you.
And let me start by wishing you all the very best on International Women's Day, the Syrian Women's Advisory Board is meeting today at Ann actually the whole week in Denhog, together with my Deputy special, the Special Deputy Special Representative, Najaad Rochdi.
And let me also take this opportunity to ensuring all of you that the voices of Syrian women are heard and that we're doing everything we can to facilitate their full and effective participation in all efforts to address and resolve the conflict in Syria.
And as we all know, Syrian women and girls have been particularly hard hit by this conflict.
I have long argued that the situation in Syria is unsustainable and that the status quo is totally unacceptable.
Last month's catastrophic earthquakes are a new reminder of this reality.
The Syrians, after 12 years of war and conflict, have been struck by a terrible natural disaster.
The earthquakes have also acted as a wake up call to the world that the Syrian tragedy is far from over.
We have seen renewed attention on Syria and to Syria this past month, regionally and indeed in the wider international community too.
We need to take this attention and to see if it can help us unlock progress on the way forward.
Right now, the humanitarian imperative in the aftermath of the earthquake demands that all they politicise their response.
Let me repeat this that in the aftermath of the earthquake, we still need to see that all they politicise their response.
This means that we need to focus on access via all modalities.
It means that we need the resources we are generous pledges and disbursements and continuing efforts to ensure no hindrances from sanctions.
And it means we need calm.
We need calm on the ground, something that I will be stressing when I'm meeting tomorrow with the Ceasefire Task Force here in Geneva.
But as you know, my role is to look beyond the emergency and to focus on the future of this broken and devastated country.
Without the political solution, Syrian suffering will endure.
Next week, the conflict will enter its 13th year.
What is true today has been true at every anniversary of this conflict.
There is no political solution, there is no military solution and there is a desperate need for a political solution.
All the challenges that existed pre earthquakes still remain and I think this is extremely important that the challenges that exist as pre earthquakes, they are still there.
And if we are to move beyond a purely emergency response to the earthquakes, this will inevitably require addressing political issues that has so far not been resolved.
The issues in the conflict are immensely complex.
The divisions within Syria are lost, and the international divisions are stark too.
But what occurs to me is that no one existing actor or group of actors can resolve this conflict alone.
The government cannot.
The opposition cannot.
The Astana players cannot.
The Arab region alone cannot, and the Western players alone cannot solve this conflict.
There needs to be a genuine Syrian led and owned political process facilitated by the United Nations and there needs to be a coordinated international effort in support of this with all key players working in the coherent effort.
As part of this I am convinced that the approach of seeking reciprocal and verifiable confidence building measures, the so-called step for step paradigm, is more relevant now than ever before.
We also need to see the Constitutional Committee resume its work.
It should not be held hostage to issues that has nothing to do with Syria.
It needs to reconvene and to move forward on substance.
Beyond the need for a new constitution for Syria, there are other issues that needs to be addressed too.
Issues of governance, sovereignty, territorial integrity, nationwide ceasefire.
The challenge is still posed by proscribed terrorist groups building a safe, calm and neutral environment.
The file of the detained, disappeared and missing, the safe, dignified and voluntarily return of refugees and ID, PS and post conflict reconstruction and the rehabilitation for which the earthquakes have only created new needs.
We cannot reach the 14th anniversary of this conflict in the situation we are in today.
We need a revived, pragmatic, result oriented political process in which all key actors engage to unlock possibilities in the earthquake affected areas and to unlock wider possibilities too.
If all, and I mean all, can envisage compromise from previous positions, all will gain.
We have actually seen in the aftermath of the earthquakes, humanitarian steps from all sides that have moved beyond previous positions, even if temporarily.
A month ago, there was no prospect of the opening of more border crossings nor or move to ease sanctions in the concrete way.
We have seen those moves.
Now what I want, what we need to see is that this is applied when it comes to the political level.
We need the same logic that was applied on the humanitarian front to now be applied on the political level.
I'm ready to use my good office proactively work with everyone, develop proposals and convene necessary players in an effort to help find the way forward.
Consistent with my mandate and Security Council Resolution 2254.
I appeal to the Syrian government, the Syrian opposition, Syrians from all sectors of civil society, and all key regional and wider international stakeholders to engage positively with the United Nations at this crucial time.
Thank you.
Start with the questions in the room on my right, please.
And then I'll go to online with James Bae's, please.
Yes, thank you.
And yes, from AFP in Geneva, Amnesty has accused yesterday the Syrian government and the troops, the groups affiliated to, to Turkey to stop the aid from NE Syria to Aleppo.
And I wanted to know if this is something that you could confirm.
And let us the the beginning.
Yes, yes.
Yesterday Amnesty, Amnesty International has accused the Syrian governments and the groups affiliated to Turkey to stop the aid from going from northeast Syria to Aleppo.
And I wanted to know if you could confirm that and give us more information.
Are Are you sure that is actually what they are saying?
Well, well, you know, obviously if you have detailed questions on access and the chances with that it's it's better that you ask the humanitarian, UN humanitarian actors, OCHA and also the UN country team.
But I can just say that we have seen in the last you know, weeks after the earthquake an in an immense increase in assistance coming in cross-border to the affected areas in the northwest and that is indeed continuing.
So I haven't heard of any problems with that going on.
Then there is a separate issue as you know about cross line deliveries that has not really started.
But I didn't understand that your question was related to that.
It was.
So I have the press release in front of of me of Amnesty.
They say that the Syrian government and Turkey backed armed opposition groups are obstructing and diverting humanitarian aid going to Aleppo.
I can check with the country team at OCHA and come back to you with more details on that.
I'll turn now to James online, please, your question.
Thank you.
Special envoy James Bayes from Al Jazeera, you can hear me.
Good, thank you.
So I just wanted to ask a couple of linked questions about the diplomacy.
Does the earthquake in any way make your task and the diplomacy, even though it's a horrific event, does it make it any easier?
Does it prevent, does it provide any sort of opening?
And then to link questions to that, you've been very much, I would say had your eggs in the constitutional basket movement for most of your time as special envoy.
You said when you took the job you had other options.
The constitutional committee's not going anywhere.
What are your other options?
And finally, again, linked to this, you are a very well respected diplomat, but you've been doing this for 4 1/2 years and we've not seen much progress.
How much longer are you going to stay on in this world?
Thank you very much.
Especially so I can promise you I will not stay as long as you have stayed in Al Jazeera.
That's the, the only thing I can start by saying and then we will see, you know, how long it is possible to do this.
But seriously speaking, of course, I'm just as I, I shouldn't even use the term frustrated.
I think we're all we, we, we, we, we feel deeply pained by the fact that the political process has not delivered to the Syrian people.
It's been going on for 12 years and we have not seen the political willingness from the parties to move this forward and there has been a lack of international cooperation to make this possible.
As I said it just in my statement, no, you know what we need to see, James, is that we need to see that all actors come together.
Not only based on what we have seen the last few weeks with the earthquake, but also based on the experience we have from the 12 previous years of the conflict.
We may know that we need to approach all the different issues that are listed to you.
Just previously.
I, I, I don't think I need to, to mention all of these issues.
But this is only possible if the Syrian parties, together with the regional actors, together with the Astana players, the Arabs, the Americans and the Europeans, if they come together with the UN in the consolidated process, then we can move forward.
But let me be frank, the international climate today may make a comprehensive solution impossible.
We should still strive for it.
But let me let's be frank, when we look at the war in Ukraine and the impact it is having, it's not helping us to facilitate this.
But as I said, status quo cannot be acceptable.
We need to move forward.
Therefore, I have been searching for ways to move the process forward.
And the ways I've been looking at is the so-called step for step approach where the Syrian government and the international community, the the Americans and the Europeans and the Arabs put on the table, both sides, what they are prepared to do and that we move forward in the manner that is verifiable.
I think this is a way where we can hopefully try to build confidence and build on that.
We could move the process forward.
At the same time, I, you know, I'm also still calling for meetings of the Constitutional committee.
As you all know, this is, has not been possible because the Russians do not want to come to Geneva.
And as long as the Russians do not want to come to Geneva, the Syrian government do not want to come to Geneva.
I've had months of discussions both with the Russians and with the government on this.
And I hope that we will be able also to see progress on, on, on this this file.
Then on your question on whether the earthquake make it easier or not, The earthquake in itself has shown that, you know, positive steps are possible if there is a political will.
And as I said, if that will is not turned into goodwill in the political process, we can make process, we can make progress, but that needs to we then we need to see from all sides a willingness to compromise and to move forward in a more serious manner.
Please.
I'll take this in the room and then I'll go to Abby next online, but in the room, please, Your question.
Thank you.
Thank you for briefing, Sir.
My name is Mohammed Iqbal from Turkey's and allegiance.
My question will be about a Syrian earthquake survivors.
There are some criticism for the United Nations.
The eight could reach Syrian earthquakes survivors earlier without for without waiting like to talk Assad regime.
Therefore, there were delays.
What is your answer to this criticism?
Listen, I, I think we all feel strongly with the people who were trying to rescue their loved ones from the rubbles after the earthquake.
And of course, as we all know, the the first overs are critical in in an earthquake face like this.
But the reality is that the United Nations do not have rescue search and rescue capacity.
It does not have heavy equipment that that is with the Member States and even if there had been 1-2 or three or four or five border crossings open, it would not have been possible for us to move in with this because we don't have it.
So I think these questions you should ask the Member States who have this capacity, why aid was not coming in the the first few days after the earthquake.
Abby online, please.
Abbey School.
Associated Press So at this point, we know the the response to the earthquake is still largely focused on humanitarian aid, but at some point there's going to have to be reconstruction.
So at this point, what do you how do you see the prospects for post earthquake reconstruction and what are the obstacles potentially standing in the way of it?
Well, as you know, we are still in the early phase of the humanitarian response and then there will in due time there will hopefully be what I understand humanitarian calls recovery and rehabilitation phase.
As I said, I do believe that when we come to that phase, there will also be need to address some of the issues that are more linked to the political side of the of the process.
But hopefully we will be able to facilitate that what the chances will be, No, I think we don't need to concentrate on.
What we need to concentrate on now is to get the humanitarian response in in in the proper manner.
There is still a huge needs in Syria, you know it as you know very well.
Before the conflict, more than 15,000,000 people were in need of humanitarian assistance and more than nine of the ten were living in poverty.
And of course, the earthquake has only confounded these problems.
So This is why we need not to concentrate on this.
But as I said, while my humanitarian colleagues in the United Nations are doing that, we are doing our utmost to see how we can try to move the political process forward.
Final question from Laurent Online.
I'll take a question from Laurent Online.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question on our Telesis news agency.
I'd like to come back to the confidence building measures.
So where to start?
Which confidence building measure seems to you the fastest and the easiest to set up?
Thank you.
You know, I'm to put it like this, I'm rather flexible as when it comes to where we could start, we could start with what I would call the more low hanging fruits or we can start with bigger issues that would be up to the parties themselves.
In the work that I've been doing so far, I have identified what I would call rather low hanging fruits that could be picked and we could start, but also more difficult issues that will need to be addressed and that will be met with an, with an, a bigger response from the other side.
This, you know, this step for step is something that we have been developing now for quite, quite a while.
I hope it can be possible to proceed with it at this stage quietly and then to see, as I said, if we can build a bit of confidence that can lay a foundation for moving the process forward.
Thank you.
Apologies that we weren't able to get to everyone's questions or if you have something you can follow up with me online or later.
Thank you again all for your time.