Local Editor
With increasing wartime assaults on and patterns of systematic destruction of health facilities in countries affected by conflict, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday to strengthen protection for health care workers, the sick and wounded, hospitals and clinics, in war zones.
Speaking to the 15-member body, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated that denying people access to essential health care is a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
"All too often, attacks on health facilities and medical workers are not just isolated or incidental battlefield fallout, but rather the intended objective of the combatants. This is shameful and inexcusable," Ban told Council members.
The UN chief urged all Member States, parties to conflict and other relevant actors to heed the Council’s demands by:
Also in attendance at the meeting were the leaders of two of the largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) consistently working in conflict zones and disaster-hit regions providing health care to people in dire need. Ban told Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Dr. Joanne Liu, the International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), that their NGOs play "unique and vital roles."
"Through their leaders here today, I want to thank and commend all of their personnel for their professionalism and dedication in serving people in danger and distress across the world," he said, recalling that last week, MSF’s head of mission in war-ravaged Aleppo had underscored the urgency and importance of efforts such as today’s resolution.
Aleppo was recently hit by an air strike, which Mr. Ban said was "by all accounts by the Government of Syria." It destroyed a hospital and killed at least 20 people, including three children and the area’s one and only paediatrician, Dr. Mohammad Wassim Maaz.
"Yet this appalling act was only the latest wartime assault on health care in Syria," the UN chief warned. "Since the beginning of the conflict, Physicians for Human Rights has documented more than 360 attacks on some 250 medical facilities. More than 730 medical personnel have been killed."
He added that a similar pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities is evident in Yemen, with more than 600 medical facilities having closed because of damage sustained in the conflict and shortages of supplies and medical workers.
"Last year, the United Nations verified 59 attacks against 34 hospitals. In January this year, Coalition air strikes hit the Shiara Hospital, which serves around 120,000 people in Sa’ada Governorate," he said. "And last October in Kunduz, Afghanistan, a bombing by United States military destroyed another MSF hospital and killed dozens, as patients were burned alive in their beds."
In his address, the Secretary-General also reiterated that the World Humanitarian Summit, a two-day conference in Istanbul beginning on 23 May, is the moment to renew commitments to preventing and ending crisis, and that the engagement of all partners - Governments and NGOs - is necessary.
"The success of the World Humanitarian Summit is in your hands," he stressed.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
