LOC21:03
18:03 GMT
GENEVA, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer said Friday that the scale of the Syrian crisis, with millions of people affected, is staggering, and parties to the conflict must do more to protect civilians, including healthcare providers and detainees.
"Safe access to healthcare, restoration of contact between members of families separated by the conflict, issues related to detention, and the need for all parties to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law," Maurer said in a statement issued by his office in Geneva, at the end of his three-day visit to the country.
"These are urgent concerns for all Syrians, regardless of where they live, and I addressed them during my talks," Maurer added.
While in Damascus, Maurer met with a number of Syrian officials, including the ministers for foreign affairs, the interior, national reconciliation affairs, social affairs and health, and the head of national security, to discuss concrete ways for the ICRC to broaden its humanitarian response, already significant, throughout the country.
Maurer also met with displaced civilians near Damascus, and with the president and other senior officials of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, with whom the ICRC works closely across the country, according to the statement.
Syria is the largest ICRC operation in terms of resources allocated.
Over 285 staff members are based in offices in Damascus, Aleppo, and Tartus and work closely with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent throughout the country.
The ICRC is also assisting Syrians who have had to flee to Jordan, Lebanon or Iraq because of the violence. (end)
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