With this vote, the Security Council unanimously endorsed the two week UN truce in Syria promoted by Russia and the United States. It's a small step towards ending what has been defined the worst war so far this century.
STAFFAN DE MISTURA
UN special envoy for Syria
'We are now at a crossroads and we have the possibility to turn the page in the Syrian conflict after almost 5 years of one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent years'.
The cities of Homs, Damascus and Aleppo are enjoying the first days of relief from the bombs falling after five years of war in Syria where more than 15 countries have launched their weapons. In those three cities the Jesuit Refugee Service operates.
FR. NAWRAS SAMMOUR
Jesuit Refugee Service (Syria)
'Having a coalition and or several coalitions for bombing ISIS, Al-Nusra, or others to end the war is not going to end the war. So it's time for diplomacy either now or maybe never'.
Father Sammour is the director for the Middle East of the Jesuit Refugee Service. On the ground, the organization provides indispensable humanitarian aid and spiritual support to a population that has virtually lost all hope.
FR. NAWRAS SAMMOUR
Jesuit Refugee Service (Syria)
'Without exaggeration the majority of syrians are hopeless today, they are desperate completely, they don't know how to deal with it. If they dream it's only to leave Syria and to go to elsewhere'.
He says that despite failed attempts in Geneva to negotiate a peace, the efforts have still brought some light to an increasingly bleak picture. The war in Syria is part of what the Pope calls a 'World War in parts.'
FR. NAWRAS SAMMOUR
Jesuit Refugee Service (Syria)
'We are all losers, not only one community. So that will lead time, that will lead time. But yes, I hope is going to happen that we are all united, reunited again in an inclusive Syria'.
He assumes that Syria will never be what it was before the war starting March 2011, especially given the huge toll in the conflict with more than 270,000 killed in the violence.
