A/HRC/35/15 been uniquely challenging. Humanitarian agencies were too often unable to deliver lifesaving assistance and protection services in a timely and sustained basis to the 4.7 million people who lived in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including the 1.3 million people in areas controlled by ISIL. The Regional Humanitarian Coordinator regretted that in February 2017 not a single inter-agency cross-line convoy of the 20 requested had been granted access since the establishment of the International Syria Support Group. 12. The Regional Humanitarian Coordinator said he had been appalled by reports from the Commission of Inquiry, OHCHR and others about murders and cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and inhuman treatment perpetrated by all sides. He stressed that neutral and impartial international humanitarian agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, had to be granted immediate and unhindered access to detainees and detention facilities in order to prevent further abuses, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances. 13. He highlighted serious concerns regarding Syrians involved in humanitarian activities inside the Syrian Arab Republic. In 2016, as part of the “whole-of-Syria” approach, humanitarian partners had reached a combined 11.2 million people in the Syrian Arab Republic with multisectoral assistance. Cross-border assistance from Jordan and Turkey had continued to represent a core element of the humanitarian response. The bulk of humanitarian assistance had been provided by a wide array of non-governmental partners. Thousands of Syrians working for national or international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), often in partnership with the United Nations, had been operating in areas under opposition control and had been playing a critical role, not only in providing assistance but also in delivering services such as health and education. They had also suffered hundreds of casualties in the process. At least 66 humanitarian workers had been killed and 114 had been wounded in the first nine months of 2016 alone. The Regional Humanitarian Coordinator stressed that the safety, well-being and freedom of humanitarian workers and of medical and civil defence staff needed to be guaranteed. He regretted the persistence of arbitrary arrests of humanitarian workers suspected of supporting armed groups, as reported by the Commission of Inquiry. He noted that during the evacuation of eastern Aleppo at least three humanitarian workers had reportedly been arrested. In 2015 and 2016, 18 humanitarian workers had been arrested in the Syrian Arab Republic. One Syrian staff member of the United Nations Development Programme remained in detention and 27 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East had been detained or had gone missing. While the United Nations had secured the release of many of its staff members, the ongoing arrest and detention of personnel was a matter of great concern and indicative of the protection risks that all humanitarian workers faced in the Syrian Arab Republic. 14. The Regional Humanitarian Coordinator urged Member States and United Nations agencies to consider how they could ensure the safety, security, freedom from arbitrary detention and well-being of humanitarian personnel. Attacks that killed or injured aid workers had to cease immediately. It was also vital for the future of the Syrian Arab Republic, to retain, protect and capitalize on the significant human capacity that had developed over the previous six years through the work of humanitarian organizations. III. Contribution of the panellists 15. In her introductory remarks as moderator of the panel, Ms. Damon said that what was most shocking about the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic was that it was not shocking enough to galvanize into action those who had the power and capability to put their own agendas aside and simply stop the violence. She recalled the very first reports of schoolboys detained and tortured for spray-painting anti-government graffiti, the endless images of victims of barrel bombs, the crucifixions carried out by ISIL, the murders and the pillaging, the image of Aylan Kurdi lying on the beach or of little Omran in Aleppo, covered in grey dust and wiping blood off his face with his tiny hand, the countless other images of victims whose names were unknown, whose cries were listened to but not really heard. Ms. Damon highlighted that, from the outset, the conflict in the Syrian Arab 4