UN: we call for support for stability, reconstruction in Syria

UN and international officials said during a UN Security Council session on Syria today that there are positive indications of accelerating recovery and improvements across several sectors, while stressing Damascus’s need for broad international support.

Claudio Cordone, Deputy Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria, said that “the Syrian government is taking positive steps to strengthen stability and development,” welcoming the United States’ decision to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. He said the move would create better conditions for economic recovery and investment.

Cordone criticized Israeli incursions into Syria and the detention of Syrian citizens, describing them as “a violation of the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.” He also reaffirmed the UN’s support for the transitional justice process.

For his part, Indrika Ratwatte, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), pointed to encouraging signs, including Syrians returning to their homes and improvements in agricultural production, as well as in the energy and transport sectors. He stressed that Syria needs investment to move from dependence on aid toward reconstruction and development.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations welcomed the removal of Syria from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, describing it as a historic step that would help boost trade and investment, and calling for “support for the Syrian government.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s representative to the United Nations affirmed “his country’s interest in strengthening Syrian state institutions,” welcoming the “progress achieved by the authorities” and noting that “Israeli strikes are hindering efforts to achieve stability and resolve the situation.

ANHA