Continuing to support the Syrian people and mobilising the international community for a comprehensive and credible political solution to the Syrian conflict is the objective of the fifth Conference for Syria and neighbouring countries - the fifth of its kind - organised by the UN and the EU on 29–30 March, by video conference this year (see EUROPE 12653/24).
The 29th will be devoted to dialogue with civil society and the 30th to the Ministerial Conference, which will be an opportunity for pledges. The United Nations has estimated the humanitarian needs at 10 billion dollars, of which 5.8 billion dollars is to support host communities.
For the UN, humanitarian access, especially in internally displaced people camps, and donor support are crucial.
Ten years of war, a severe economic crisis aggravated by Covid-19: the humanitarian needs are enormous, both inside Syria and in the neighbouring countries - Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq - which are hosting 5 million refugees.
14.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country, in addition to the basic needs of 10.5 million refugees and their host communities.
“60% of the population needs food aid, 4.5 million more than last year, and 2 million children are out of school. 30.4 million people, half of them children, are in need of humanitarian assistance”, a senior European official said on Tuesday.
Since the beginning of the crisis, the EU has provided 1.8 billion euros in humanitarian aid through 40 partners for food, health care, psycho-social support, water and education.
Donor commitments made last year - 6.9 billion euros in humanitarian aid pledged - were impressive. A report on implementation, expected on Friday 26 March, will show that they have exceeded the expected amounts by 55%, the source said.
The Conference will also allow the international community to return to the political situation in Syria.
In mid-March, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on international actors to “join forces” at the Conference “to reaffirm and consolidate their strong support for a political solution” in line with UN Resolution 2254 (see EUROPE 12678/2).
Since the beginning of the conflict ten years ago, the EU’s position has not changed: there is no military solution to the conflict, the return of refugees and displaced persons must be safe, voluntary and dignified and accountability is necessary. The EU has also consistently reiterated that it will not participate in the reconstruction of the country until a political transition has taken place.
One of the objectives of the Conference is to support civil society. “This target is growing every year”, said a European source.
The civil society representatives will present a report of their work at the Ministerial session.
Conference website: https://bit.ly/3rhLXX9 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Camille-Cerise Gessant)