On the eve of the fifth international ministerial conference in support of Syria and the region (‘Brussels V’), the UN called on donors on Monday 29 March to increase their support to 24 million people in need of humanitarian and other assistance, 4 million more than in 2020.
More than US$10 billion is expected to cover the needs this year (see EUROPE 12685/17).
“Today, the collapse of living conditions, economic decline and Covid-19 are leading to more hunger, malnutrition and disease. There is less fighting, but no peace dividend”, the UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said in a statement.
After 10 years of conflict, the economic crisis in Syria and the refugee host countries—of unprecedented scale—is compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, stressed Janez Lenarčič, the Commissioner for Crisis Management, stressing the need to ensure “the protection of populations and humanitarian staff, especially those on the front line”.
He was speaking at the civil society dialogue on meeting food needs and strengthening livelihoods inside Syria.
Ensuring access to people in need is crucial, the Commissioner said, stressing in particular the importance of renewing the UN resolution on access for cross-border assistance after 10 July.
“The humanitarian situation is worse than ever”, said Paraskevi Michou, Director of ECHO, the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 12.4 million people are food insecure, including 1.3 million who are acutely food insecure, and more than 500,000 children are suffering from stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition. “Food insecurity and lack of access to basic services are increasing the dependency of millions of Syrians”, she stressed.
To meet the needs of the most vulnerable at a time of reduced funding, she called for greater coordination of aid, better identification of those most in need, and “solutions that will help people”.
Cash transfers or vouchers are, in the opinion of WFP’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Corinne Fleischer, “an excellent tool to give people purchasing power and flexibility to adjust aid to their needs”.
The EU has not set a commitment target for ‘Brussels V’, according to a senior European official.
At ‘Brussels IV’ last year, donors pledged US$5.5 billion (€4.9 billion) in grants for 2020 and almost $2.2 billion (€2 billion) for 2021 and beyond.
Loans of $6.1 billion (€5.5 billion) for 2020 and beyond were also announced.
Pledges had totalled €4.4 billion for 2020—pledges already exceeded by 54%, according to the financial monitoring report published on Friday 26 March by the European External Action Service.
In 2020, the EU and its Member States, which had pledged $3 billion (€2.7 billion), or 61% of the total commitment, mobilised $4.4 billion (€3.9 billion) in 2020, exceeding their initial commitment by 44%.
The US, Germany and the EU were the three largest donors, providing 70% of total donations.
Syria received the largest share of the donations, $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion).
For 2021 and beyond, $190 million (€169 million) in grant contributions have already been made available for Syria. See the report: https://bit.ly/2QQsNez (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)