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UN leader Ban Ki-moon made a fresh appeal to members of the Security Council today to overcome their divisions and find a solution to the bloody civil war in Syria.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ban said it would be an “abdication” of the world body’s responsibilities if it fails to unify over the crisis that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
Russia and China have used their powers as permanent members of the 15-member Security Council to block three resolutions that would have threatened sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Embattled UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to brief the full Council next Tuesday.
“It will be essential for the Security Council to overcome the deadlock, and find the unity that will make meaningful action possible,” Ban told the annual gathering of the global elite in a Swiss ski resort.
“The alternative — letting the sides fight it out, resigning ourselves to Syria’s destruction with all its regional implications — is too costly and unacceptable,” he added.
“That would be an abdication of our collective responsibility to protect. The world, and above all the Security Council, must uphold its responsibilities.”
The UN Secretary-General appealed to world powers to increase their funding for aid for people displaced by the 22-month conflict, ahead of a donors’ conference in Kuwait on January 30.
Ban also renewed his call for all sides to stop arming the conflict’s warring parties.
He did not name any countries but Russia and Iran are key arms suppliers to Assad, while the Syrian Government in turn accuses Qatar, Turkey and other Gulf states of arming the opposition.
The UN chief repeated his support for Brahimi, who has struggled to make any headway in the crisis and whose six-month tenure comes up for renewal in February.
“Mr Brahimi enjoys my total support and that of the Arab League Secretary-General, Nabil al-Arabi,” Ban said.
Brahimi has been criticised by Assad’s Government and has also failed to bring key players Russia and the US in line behind a transition plan that could end the 22-month-old conflict.
Ban meanwhile used his appearance at Davos to call for the world to help end the crisis in Mali, where a French-led military offensive against Islamist militants is underway.
He said he was “personally committed to ensuring that the United Nations stands ready, once the regrettably necessary combat operations are over, to undertake a major system-wide effort for peace building.”
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