(Transcript from World News Australia)
Senior United Nations officials have outlined a new strategy to try to end the conflict in Syria.
It's designed to get around the fact that four years into the civil war, pro and anti-government forces aren't willing to hold formal peace talks.
Van Nguyen has the details.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says at least a quarter-of-a-million people have been killed so far in the Syrian civil war.
He's calling on the Security Council to support the latest move to try to end it by diplomatic means.
Mr Ban says he's ready to convene a high-level conference to endorse any framework agreement the Council endorses.
"The status quo in Syria is unacceptable. Some argue that we must wait to end this nightmare until there is a more propitious alignment of regional and international circumstances. This would be both immoral and irresponsible. We must not condemn the Syrian people to even deeper despair. We must not condemn the region to unending turmoil."
The Council has been briefed on the culmination of nearly three months of consultations by UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
He's suggesting the formation of four working groups, led by the UN, to try to work towards implementation of the the Geneva Communique on the Syrian crisis.
The Communique, adopted in June 2012, remains the only internationally-agreed basis for a political settlement to the Syrian conflict.
It calls for political transition while leaving the role of President Bashar al-Assad unresolved.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon says both Syrians and external actors reject a future Syria divided along sectarian lines.
"Many Syrians warned that the country is entering a cycle of fragmentation and radicalization from which it will be hard to exit. Our Syrian interlocutors also lamented that their country is caught in a regional proxy war that is beyond Syrians' ability to resolve by themselves. Almost all pointed to an urgent need for the international community to act now if we want to save and preserve what is left of Syria. As the situation deteriorates, Syrians predict that the prospects for achieving a political solution will also recede."
UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says the Geneva Communique provides an opportunity for an end to the civil war that can't be missed.
"We cannot just let the situation in Syria continue to drift and that's why based on the appeal and the urge of the Secretary-General, we need to move in a direction where Syrians come together to stop the violence and set out an irreversible path towards a genuine political transition."
UN Aid Chief Stephen O'Brien says it's more urgent than ever to end the cycle of violence.
"I am shocked and outraged. Syria today, amongst sadly and appallingly an enlarging pool of humanitarian need and human misery across many parts of the world, but notably in this region, is the most acute, unrelenting and shameful blot on the world's humanitarian conscience. I hope that my proposed visit to Damascus next month will provide an opportunity to constructively engage with the government to address some of the significant access challenges that seriously impede humanitarian operations and prevent ordinary Syrians from getting the assistance they so desperately need."
Despite the numerous obstacles, Mr O'Brien says UN agencies and their partners are supporting millions of needy Syrians.
And he's called on the international community to increase support to help humanitarian organizations do their work.
"In the first months of 2015, UN agencies and NGOs provided food assistance for 5.8 million people per month, medicine and supplies for nearly 9 million treatments, water and sanitation support for almost 5 million people and provided basic relief items, such as blankets, and other necessities of life for nearly 3 million people. With unimpeded access, imagine how many more millions can be reached."
UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says the new bid to reach a political settlement should be implemented as soon as possible.
"It is precisely the immensity of the human suffering as described by the Secretary-General and by our colleague, US Aid chief O'Brien, that commands us to seek out even the remotest possibility for a political solution, even if, and we heard it, sadly, the logic of assuming a military victory by anyone, which is impossible continues. And barrel bombs and other indiscriminate weapons continue to kill Syrian civilians."
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