Pedersen met with Syrian Acting Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaybani in Riyadh. UN Special Envoy: “We Will Help Syria Go Through the Transition in a Peaceful Way” Peace and Security
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, took part in an international meeting in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh over the weekend.
As UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric reported at a briefing in New York on Monday, the Special Envoy welcomed “the strong support [the international community] has provided to the Syrian people and the country’s interim authorities at this critical juncture.”
In Riyadh, Pedersen met with Syria’s Acting Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaybani, focusing on the need to advance the country’s inclusive political transformation and address the challenges Syria has faced since the fall of the Assad regime. According to the Special Envoy, the UN will help Syria go through the transition period peacefully and begin to rebuild the country.
Deputy Special Envoy Najat Rochdi remains in Damascus, where she continues consultations with participants in the political process.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Syria, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners successfully completed a 10-day oral cholera vaccination campaign in the Al-Hol camp for internally displaced people.
The situation remains volatile
According to UN humanitarian workers in Syria, the security situation in some areas of the country remains volatile. In Aleppo province, fighting is taking place near the Tishreen Dam, which has been out of service for 35 days. More than 403,000 people living in the cities of Manbij and Kobani still have no access to water. Most villages near the city of Deir ez-Zor also face a shortage of drinking water due to the insufficient number of functioning water stations.
“Despite all these challenges, we and our partners continue to carry out humanitarian missions as logistics and the security situation allow,” said Stefan Dujjarik.
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