Seventy delegations, including 53 countries and a number of regional organisations, will meet in Brussels on Wednesday 5 April for a conference on aid to be provided for the future of Syria and other countries in the region.
A number of EU sources say this will be the biggest conference on Syria in 2017, and at the end of the conference a statement by the co-chairs (the EU, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Nations) is due to be adopted.
The high-level meeting aims to discuss the future of Syria and support that can be provided by the international community. A high-ranking EU official explained that they were now in the seventh year of war. The conference should provide an opportunity to point out the international community’s support for the talks headed by the UN. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura will brief the delegations on progress in the talks.
The delegations will discuss aid prospects for the post-agreement period, particularly for reconstruction when an inclusive political transition has clearly begun. The official said the EU and other donors would not be investing great sums of money until they think that what gets built will not be destroyed.
The international community will also discuss necessary aid and protection for those who need it, reconfirming its commitment to continue to supply aid. The delegations will thus examine the practical aspects of meeting the financial promises made to Syrians and host communities at the London Donor Conference in February 2016 (€11 billion until 2020). New promises of aid may be announced. An EU source said that participants would not be prevented from making donations but a donor conference is not the main aim, although it will provide an opportunity to put pressure on less generous donors. A high-ranking European official said the EU would confirm its aid of €1.1 or even €1.2 billion in 2017. Against this backdrop, the delegations are expected to discuss support for neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, along with Iraq and Egypt, which house many Syrian refugees.
Although 70 delegations have been invited to the conference, the large nations will not be sending their top dogs. Several member states are due to be represented by their development ministers rather than foreign ministers. Although Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Lebanese and Jordanian prime ministers will attend, Russia will be represented by its ambassador to the EU, and Turkey has not yet confirmed whether it will actually send a representative (its presence looks increasingly unlikely).
The day before the high-level meeting, experts will discuss the situation in Syria, whether in terms of needs, challenges or direction to be taken, along with the resilience of host communities and refugees in terms of the Syrian crisis. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)