UN must be reformed to fulfil mandate

The United Nations failed the people of Syria because of Security Council power games, writes Colm O’Gorman

A couple of months ago I was watching a BBC report from the city of Homs in Syria. At the end of the clip, a small group of young men dashed across rocky ground at night. They were burying a seven-year-old girl killed that day. They were doing it at night because it was too dangerous to bury the dead in daylight.

Since the uprising in Syria began in Mar 2011, the images and testimonies from victims and survivors have been graphic and disturbing. But somehow, this stood out. A young girl killed, but no time to mourn; instead a hurried burial under fire by young men who risked their lives for a dead child.