Mr. Jonathan Edgar:

As Mr. Andrews indicated, I was inside northern Syria last week visiting GOAL's humanitarian programmes across the Idlib and Hama provinces. GOAL has been working inside Syria since November 2012 and is currently delivering humanitarian assistance to more than 350,000 individuals every month. My latest trip was a follow-up to an earlier visit in July. It was evident to me that the humanitarian situation has deteriorated considerably in the meantime. In fact, without an immediate and sustainable solution to the conflict, the humanitarian crisis will become unmanageable for the larger international NGOs operating inside Syria.

I take this opportunity to urge Irish parliamentarians and other elected representatives to keep the humanitarian crisis in Syria high on the political agenda. Political will and political pressure, not only from Ireland, but from across Europe and the rest of the world, is essential if we are to protect the human rights of the most vulnerable people affected by this conflict. The United Nations has estimated that 100,000 people have been killed to date, 6.8 million are in need of aid, 4.25 million to 4.5 million are internally displaced inside Syria, and 2.1 million are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. Perhaps the most shocking statistic is that half of the 6.8 million people in need of aid are children.

We can talk all day about figures but it is only when one visits Syria and sees the devastation and suffering at first hand that the enormity of the humanitarian catastrophe becomes really apparent. It is one of the worst humanitarian crises I have witnessed, and I have seen many. I welcome the statement by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, that his country and Russia are pushing the United Nations to hold a Syria peace conference in the second week of November. It is important, however, to emphasise the urgency of the situation. There is a need for a clear, sustainable solution right now. Not only will innocent people continue to suffer if the impasse continues, but the realisation of any peaceful solution in the future will become more difficult as extremist groups look to profit from the inertia of the international community and the chaos inside Syria. The country is unravelling as a result of the current vacuum.

Thanks to the support of Irish Aid and other international donors, including the British and United States governments and the European Union, GOAL is providing food rations to 350,000 people on a monthly basis. These rations include basic nutritional components such as rice, beans, pasta and oil. In addition, GOAL is providing soya bread for 100,000 people per month and supporting the re-establishment of the bakeries through large-scale flour distributions. To ensure that 84,000 displaced people are prepared for the harsh winter ahead, GOAL, with funding from the Government, is distributing vouchers that can be redeemed from a supplier for a range of items, including heating fuel, housing repair materials, blankets, clothing and cooking utensils - the types of materials we take for granted on a day-to-day basis. When it reviewed GOAL's voucher programme recently, the United States Office of the Inspector General pronounced it one of the most innovative schemes it had seen and recommended that it be replicated as widely as possible.

While ensuring humanitarian needs are met in GOAL's current areas of operation, we will continue to expand our geographical focus to reach those populations most at risk. I agree with my colleague from Médecins Sans Frontières Ireland that the delivery of aid in a 12 km band just south of the Turkish border will not meet the needs of the most vulnerable and needy. When security permits, we will have to work through local partners to access the less secure areas not currently receiving aid, including southern Idlib and Hama town, where the fighting is at its heaviest. There is a need for the humanitarian community and international agencies to expand their humanitarian activities to include provision of safe water, supporting the rural agricultural sector, providing home repair and transitional shelter for families, and responding to the primary health care needs of the most vulnerable people.

The challenges facing GOAL's operations in Syria in the coming months can only be mitigated significantly by the creation of a protected humanitarian corridor that allows humanitarian agencies access to the areas most in need. This humanitarian corridor would protect aid distributions from the interference of both government and rebel forces. That will only come about through dialogue at a political level. The issue on the ground is humanitarian. The humanitarian response will not solve the political situation but without a protected humanitarian corridor which allows aid agencies to reach those most in need, the situation will deteriorate further.