The UN Security Council has adopted a unanimous but non-binding resolution calling for the lifting of the siege on several Syrian cities to allow passage of humanitarian aid convoys in the war-torn country.
The resolution was drafted by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg and had the backing of Britain, France and the United States.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote that the resolution "should not have been necessary" because "humanitarian assistance is not something to be negotiated - it is something to be allowed by virtue of international law".
"Half the country's people need urgent assistance," he said.
"Host countries need support in caring for more than 2.5 million refugees."
The UN chief said it is "profoundly shocking... that both sides are besieging civilians as a tactic of war."
"Some 200,000 people are under siege in government-controlled areas - and 45,000 in opposition-controlled areas," he said.
Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said after the vote: "Today the council has finally shown that whatever its political differences over Syria it was not entirely indifferent to the devastating humanitarian crisis."
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos issued a statement on Saturday expressing hope that adoption of the resolution "will facilitate the delivery of aid to people in desperate need in Syria".
Syrian UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari condemned the resolution, saying that it allowed other countries to meddle in the country's internal affairs.
"The children of Syria can solve their own crisis without outside manipulation," Jaafari said.
UN agencies say that about 2.4 million Syrians have fled the country and 6.5 million are internally displaced, out of a total population of 22.4 million.
Besides demanding unhindered humanitarian access, the text calls for lifting the siege in several areas, including the Old City Homs, Aleppo and Damascus, to allow civilians to leave and get access to food and medical help.
If the resolution's demand for cross-border access is implemented, humanitarian aid could reach 1 million people who are in need of urgent assistance, said Gary Quinlan, Australian ambassador to the UN.
The draft also demands that all parties stop shelling and aerial bombardments, which lead to large numbers of civilian injuries, and specifically calls for ending the use of barrel bombs, large containers filled with explosives and shrapnel usually dropped from helicopters by the Syrian army.
The main point of contention between Russia and other Security Council members in the past was the provision for the use of force, which Russia feared would allow other countries to intervene militarily in Syria.
The present resolution says that "the Security Council ... expresses its intent to take further steps in the case of non-compliance with this resolution," which is somewhat weaker language than that contained in earlier versions of the resolution.
The Security Council will be briefed on the progress of implementation every 30 days, and if the demands are not met, the council will consider further action, several ambassadors of the 15-member council stressed.
