IICO urges world to find political solution to Syrian crisis

KUWAIT, May 2 (KUNA) -- International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) Chairman and UN Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy Dr. Abdullah Al-Maatouq said on Monday the international community should seek to find genuine political solutions to the Syrian crisis.
In a keynote speech at a meeting of major donors for supporting Syrian people, Al-Maatouq, who is also Advisor at the Amiri Diwan, said humanitarian efforts could not be deemed an alternative to political ones.
Calling for a fast-track political settlement to the over-five-year crisis in Syria, Al-Maatouq emphasized that all legal means should be used to stop uncontrollable bloodshed in this Arab country.
He also called for protecting civilians, ensuring relief aid access to thousands of besieged people, noting that there are 13.5 million homeless people in Syria and 9.8 million Syrians are locked in sharp food shortage.
He regretted that around 60 percent of public hospitals and clinics are not fully operating while roughly 11 million people are in dire need of medial help.
Al-Maaqouq pointed out that nearly 25 percent of Syrian schools are out of service as at least 5,000 schools have been either destroyed or used as shelters, lamenting that the dossier of basic services poses a major challenge owing to deliberately planned attacks on infrastructure utilities.
The IICO chief deplored recent barrel bomb attacks by governmental forces on hospitals, marketplaces and houses in Aleppo.
However, he vowed that his organization, together with other humanitarian agencies, would never give up calls for putting an end to the tragic humanitarian situation in Syria, including killing, displacement and bombing, estimating that over 300,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the crisis.
On the donors meeting, he said it mainly aimed at looking into the humanitarian situation in Syria and putting humanitarian response plans in place in an effective and immediate manner.
The meeting is held under the aegis of First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Partnerships with the Middle East and Central Asia Rashid Khalikov. (end) amn.msa.mt