A Syrian activist on Friday gives a speech to the UN Security Council

ARK News: On Friday, the UN Security Council held an hour-long meeting, starting at 10:00 am New York time, in which UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pederson, spoke on the video screen and Mrs. Rajaa Al Talli, daughter of Sednaya.

Special envoy, Geir Pederson, urges Syria’s Government, Opposition to Agree on Constitutional Committee Agenda amid Security Council Appeals for Nationwide Ceasefire
The Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson told the Security Council on Friday that he is forging ahead with efforts to unify Government and opposition representatives around an agreed agenda for the newly launched Constitutional Committee, aiming to bring the protracted political process back on track.

Geir Pedersen said that after nine years of violence in Syria, the process laid out in Council resolution 2254 (2015) is more urgent than ever, despite last month’s failure by representatives of President Bashar al‑Assad’s Government and the Syrian Negotiations Commission to agree on what the Committee should discuss.

Rajaa Al Talli, Co‑Founder and Co‑Director of the Centre for Civil Society and Democracy, recounted the kidnapping, torture and nine‑year detention of her father, who had joined an opposition political party in Syria. “This story is the story of thousands of Syrians from before and during the conflict,” she said. In the last nine years, Syrian women, men, girls and boys have endured bombing, chemical weapons, starvation under siege, forced demographic change and indiscriminate shelling of houses, schools and hospitals. Tens of thousands have been detained and tortured. The Syrian Government is a principal party — along with many others — and is responsible for the situation. “Now is the time to end the suffering,” she declared. “I call upon you, on behalf of the silent majority of Syrians, to work together and, with Syrians, to find a sustainable solution.” She added that Syrian non‑governmental organizations such as hers believe that a political solution is not only urgent and necessary, but also possible.

Her organization’s road map to that solution includes an end to all hostilities, improved conditions for displaced persons and provisions for supervised, voluntary returns, she continued. It also includes the formation of a gender‑sensitive committee under the Security Council to deal with all matters concerning detainees, to support their release and provide all necessary support for them and their families. In addition, she called for the establishment of an international working group of permanent members of the Council to support the efforts of the Special Envoy in order to pave the way for free and fair elections under the United Nations supervision in 2020 to 2021.

She went on to say that the Council should support reaching a political agreement between the different parties in Syria that includes the direct participation of Syrian women and civil society, accountability mechanisms, separation of powers and guarantees of human rights and safeguards all freedoms. It will then be necessary to plan and prepare for sustainable development and reconstruction of Syria, addressing the needs of women and youth and providing for inclusive diversity. “I implore you to work together as a united Security Council to achieve these measures and to take action to end the suffering of millions,” she said.

Source: United Nations website

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