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| Aid Challenge in Syria Mounts for U.N. Official | Aid Challenge in Syria Mounts for U.N. Official |
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| UNITED NATIONS — Valerie Amos, the top United Nations official responsible for easing the Syrian conflict’s humanitarian crisis, has made five visits to the country since early 2012 and has developed a cordial working relationship with Syrian relief officials. | UNITED NATIONS — Valerie Amos, the top United Nations official responsible for easing the Syrian conflict’s humanitarian crisis, has made five visits to the country since early 2012 and has developed a cordial working relationship with Syrian relief officials. |
| At the same time, however, Ms. Amos has won only limited rights for aid groups to work in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of civilians in areas under insurgent control are unable to receive food, medicine and other supplies. | At the same time, however, Ms. Amos has won only limited rights for aid groups to work in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of civilians in areas under insurgent control are unable to receive food, medicine and other supplies. |
| Ms. Amos, the under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and the emergency relief coordinator, is facing a conundrum as the 33-month-old conflict enters its third winter. Even as she has called loudly for access to areas in need, the humanitarian situation has worsened, her boss, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said Monday. If she pushes the Syrian government too hard, her working relationship could falter and the relief effort could backfire. | |
| Ms. Amos has come under pressure to be tougher with the Syrian authorities, who rights advocates say are increasingly using the denial of access to aid as a weapon. Groups such as Human Rights Watch, while professing admiration for Ms. Amos, say she has been too patient with the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who they contend has taken advantage as part of his survival strategy. | Ms. Amos has come under pressure to be tougher with the Syrian authorities, who rights advocates say are increasingly using the denial of access to aid as a weapon. Groups such as Human Rights Watch, while professing admiration for Ms. Amos, say she has been too patient with the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who they contend has taken advantage as part of his survival strategy. |
| Defenders of Ms. Amos call her a pragmatist who has made progress without alienating either Mr. Assad’s government, which she needs as her host-country partner, or its most important foreign ally, Russia. | Defenders of Ms. Amos call her a pragmatist who has made progress without alienating either Mr. Assad’s government, which she needs as her host-country partner, or its most important foreign ally, Russia. |
| Ms. Amos, 59, a former British cabinet minister and member of the House of Lords who took the United Nations job about a year before the Syria conflict began, has found that Syria is now occupying much of her time. It has compounded what already was an enormous responsibility that includes managing disaster relief for the Philippines after the typhoon there, as well as a range of crises in Africa and frequent fund-raising appeals. | Ms. Amos, 59, a former British cabinet minister and member of the House of Lords who took the United Nations job about a year before the Syria conflict began, has found that Syria is now occupying much of her time. It has compounded what already was an enormous responsibility that includes managing disaster relief for the Philippines after the typhoon there, as well as a range of crises in Africa and frequent fund-raising appeals. |
| On Monday in Geneva, she announced a donor fund-raising goal of $13 billion for 2014, the most ever requested, half of it just for Syria. | On Monday in Geneva, she announced a donor fund-raising goal of $13 billion for 2014, the most ever requested, half of it just for Syria. |
| “Syria is a constant for me,” she said in a recent interview in her office on the 33rd floor of the United Nations headquarters. “And there are some days when it dominates my agenda.” | “Syria is a constant for me,” she said in a recent interview in her office on the 33rd floor of the United Nations headquarters. “And there are some days when it dominates my agenda.” |
| Seeking other solutions, Ms. Amos has organized what she called an informal 22-nation “high-level group on Syria,” including all five permanent members of the Security Council, as well as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, to find ways they can help despite their disagreements. She is scheduled to convene that group’s members, whom she admits have “very different political views about next steps,” in coming days. | Seeking other solutions, Ms. Amos has organized what she called an informal 22-nation “high-level group on Syria,” including all five permanent members of the Security Council, as well as regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, to find ways they can help despite their disagreements. She is scheduled to convene that group’s members, whom she admits have “very different political views about next steps,” in coming days. |
| The crisis has taken on even more urgency as the Syrian government and opposition prepare to meet Jan. 22 for the first time, in talks arranged in Geneva by the United Nations, the United States and Russia. Fighting has intensified ahead of the talks, with reports of heavy civilian casualties on Monday in rebel-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo. More than 100 people, including many children, were killed in bombings by the Syrian Air Force, antigovernment activists said. | The crisis has taken on even more urgency as the Syrian government and opposition prepare to meet Jan. 22 for the first time, in talks arranged in Geneva by the United Nations, the United States and Russia. Fighting has intensified ahead of the talks, with reports of heavy civilian casualties on Monday in rebel-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo. More than 100 people, including many children, were killed in bombings by the Syrian Air Force, antigovernment activists said. |
| Peggy Hicks, the global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis could not wait for the Geneva talks. | Peggy Hicks, the global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said efforts to ease the humanitarian crisis could not wait for the Geneva talks. |
| “Nobody should be fooled by the crumbs of change Syria has offered,” Ms. Hicks said in a telephone interview. “I think there’s every reason to believe the Syrian government is using denial of aid as a weapon of war, to make life incredibly difficult for both the opposition fighters and anybody associated with them.” | “Nobody should be fooled by the crumbs of change Syria has offered,” Ms. Hicks said in a telephone interview. “I think there’s every reason to believe the Syrian government is using denial of aid as a weapon of war, to make life incredibly difficult for both the opposition fighters and anybody associated with them.” |
| Ms. Amos has avoided saying whether she wants the Security Council to raise the pressure on Mr. Assad by passing a binding resolution that would force Syria to allow aid to flow unimpeded. When she last briefed the Council on Dec. 3, Ms. Amos implicitly acknowledged that Russia, which has veto power, opposes that level of coercion. | Ms. Amos has avoided saying whether she wants the Security Council to raise the pressure on Mr. Assad by passing a binding resolution that would force Syria to allow aid to flow unimpeded. When she last briefed the Council on Dec. 3, Ms. Amos implicitly acknowledged that Russia, which has veto power, opposes that level of coercion. |
| Russia agreed in October to a nonenforceable Security Council request, known as a presidential statement, asking the Syrian government to improve the distribution of aid and to protect civilians. | Russia agreed in October to a nonenforceable Security Council request, known as a presidential statement, asking the Syrian government to improve the distribution of aid and to protect civilians. |
| “My focus now is on how can we operationalize what has been agreed by Security Council members after a lot of discussion, in other words, the presidential statement,” Ms. Amos told reporters after her Dec. 3 briefing. But progress, she said, had been “extremely modest.” | “My focus now is on how can we operationalize what has been agreed by Security Council members after a lot of discussion, in other words, the presidential statement,” Ms. Amos told reporters after her Dec. 3 briefing. But progress, she said, had been “extremely modest.” |
| Ms. Amos did note, however, that the Syrian authorities had expedited some visa requests and had signed formal agreements to allow aid groups into Syria from Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. On Sunday, three United Nations agencies began airlifting aid from the Iraqi city of Erbil to the northeast Syrian city of Qamishly, where displaced families have been ravaged by a severe early winter. | Ms. Amos did note, however, that the Syrian authorities had expedited some visa requests and had signed formal agreements to allow aid groups into Syria from Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. On Sunday, three United Nations agencies began airlifting aid from the Iraqi city of Erbil to the northeast Syrian city of Qamishly, where displaced families have been ravaged by a severe early winter. |
| But the Syrians have refused to open access to humanitarian aid from their border with Turkey, which supports the insurgency. United Nations officials estimate that at least 200,000 Syrians living near the Turkish border need help. | But the Syrians have refused to open access to humanitarian aid from their border with Turkey, which supports the insurgency. United Nations officials estimate that at least 200,000 Syrians living near the Turkish border need help. |
| Doctors Without Borders, the medical aid group, has expressed increased alarm at the Syrian intransigence. Joanne Liu, the group’s president, said access through Turkey would be a “lifeline” for people in opposition-held areas. | Doctors Without Borders, the medical aid group, has expressed increased alarm at the Syrian intransigence. Joanne Liu, the group’s president, said access through Turkey would be a “lifeline” for people in opposition-held areas. |
| “We are asking loud and clear to everyone who wants to listen: We need to let cross-border aid come in,” Dr. Liu said in a telephone interview. | “We are asking loud and clear to everyone who wants to listen: We need to let cross-border aid come in,” Dr. Liu said in a telephone interview. |
| While Unicef has said it has vaccinated two million children in Syria against polio, Doctors Without Borders has said some children in opposition-controlled areas remain untreated. In a blog post, the aid agency wrote that vaccines have not crossed the front lines in Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, where polio was detected this year. | While Unicef has said it has vaccinated two million children in Syria against polio, Doctors Without Borders has said some children in opposition-controlled areas remain untreated. In a blog post, the aid agency wrote that vaccines have not crossed the front lines in Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, where polio was detected this year. |
| “The truth is that the Syrian government actively blocks efforts to vaccinate in opposition-controlled areas, and, working in cooperation with Damascus, the U.N. is forced to abide,” the agency said. | “The truth is that the Syrian government actively blocks efforts to vaccinate in opposition-controlled areas, and, working in cooperation with Damascus, the U.N. is forced to abide,” the agency said. |
| A Unicef spokeswoman, Juliette Touma, said that the vaccination campaign had not reached all opposition-controlled areas and that in some, “access remains a challenge.” | A Unicef spokeswoman, Juliette Touma, said that the vaccination campaign had not reached all opposition-controlled areas and that in some, “access remains a challenge.” |
| Jan Egeland, who held Ms. Amos’s job 10 years ago and now runs the Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with Syrians fleeing the conflict, said foreign relief workers were still required to register in Damascus. Their security is increasingly endangered, he said, and they still cannot deliver medical supplies across the front lines. | Jan Egeland, who held Ms. Amos’s job 10 years ago and now runs the Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with Syrians fleeing the conflict, said foreign relief workers were still required to register in Damascus. Their security is increasingly endangered, he said, and they still cannot deliver medical supplies across the front lines. |
| Mr. Egeland said he was dismayed that Security Council members had not passed a binding resolution on aid, even as they did so on the destruction of chemical weapons. “How come it’s easier to access, collect and deal with chemical weapons than to deal with and access civilians?” he asked in a telephone interview. | Mr. Egeland said he was dismayed that Security Council members had not passed a binding resolution on aid, even as they did so on the destruction of chemical weapons. “How come it’s easier to access, collect and deal with chemical weapons than to deal with and access civilians?” he asked in a telephone interview. |
| He praised Ms. Amos’s efforts, but said the United Nations as a whole had not spoken out as forcefully as it should. “What we need is very clear leadership from the U.N. It needs to be clearer,” he said. “We have a regime specializing in scaring us, and we are specializing in being scared.” | He praised Ms. Amos’s efforts, but said the United Nations as a whole had not spoken out as forcefully as it should. “What we need is very clear leadership from the U.N. It needs to be clearer,” he said. “We have a regime specializing in scaring us, and we are specializing in being scared.” |
Nick Cumming-Bruce contributed reporting from Geneva, and Mohammad Ghannam from Beirut, Lebanon. | Nick Cumming-Bruce contributed reporting from Geneva, and Mohammad Ghannam from Beirut, Lebanon. |
| This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: December 17, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the seasons spanned so far by the Syrian conflict. It is entering its third winter, not its second. |