Brussels to host next #Syria donor conference

Now into its seventh year, the Syrian conflict has also triggered the biggest humanitarian disaster in modern times. Some 4 million Syrians have fled the country and more than eight million are internally displaced. Addressing the hardship, the European Union, Germany, Norway, Qatar, the UK, UN, and Kuwait will co-chair the 'Conference on supporting the future of Syria and the region' in Brussels on 5 April, writes Martin Banks.

The event will bring together ministerial representatives from 70 delegations and will seek to address the situation in Syria and the impact of the crisis in the region. It comes on the back of the London Conference in February 2016, when the donor community pledged significant financial support for humanitarian assistance and protection in Syria. The conference received pledges of $11 billion, the largest amount ever raised in a single day.

Unfortunately, one of the defining features of the international community’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis since the start of the conflict has been the discrepancy between the large sums in pledged aid assembled at donor conferences, like the one held in London, and the actual assistance that reaches displaced Syrians.

For the UN agencies at the forefront of relief efforts, the lack of resources has become a chronic issue: in 2015, the $4.3bn appeal set by the UNHCR for displaced refugees was matched by only $2.2bn in funds raised. The lack of funding forced the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to make severe cuts in the assistance it offered to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, first halving the funds individual refugees were provided for food to just $13.50 per month and then eliminating food vouchers to a full third of refugees, including 229,000 in Jordan in one month alone.

Syria is not the only crisis the UNHCR, WFP and partner agencies are struggling to handle, but it is the most drastic one overstretching their resources and leaving them “broke and failing”. Despite repeated appeals, convincing donors to provide the necessary funds has largely failed.

A number of the international donors who see shortfalls in their commitments in honouring UN aid programmes are European. Four months after the London donor conference in 2016, less than a quarter of the promised $11bn had actually been received. A report by the charity Oxfam last December identified which countries are doing their fair share in terms of aid and in resettling refugees forced out of Syria by the conflict.

Countries like the US and UK, Oxfam stated, donate sizeable amounts but still fall far short on refugee resettlement. They are not alone: Spain for example rejected a UNHCR request to provide 500 visas for Syrian students from Jordan and Lebanon. In Russia, only two Syrians have received permanent refugee status.

Not all of the major donors have been so unresponsive in meeting their obligations. London and Brussels conference co-host Kuwait, considering its size, has been one of the most generous donors to Syrian relief efforts. Kuwaiti Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his government have hosted multiple conferences themselves – including the first three Syria donor conferences - raising $8 billion for UN efforts. They are also a principle supporter of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, which is home to some 80,000 refugees.

To motivate other donors to honour their funding commitments, former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon held Kuwait up as an “example of generosity for other countries” and praised the small country by saying that “at a time when so many of our appeals are under-funded, it is good to know we can count on Kuwait's generosity, and particularly His Highness, the Amir of Kuwait.”

Those on the frontlines of the refugee crisis are hoping this conference will be different. On 5 April, Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative, will plead with the international community to pursue two main objectives, one being to take stock of the implementation of commitments of the donor community at the London conference earlier this year.

“But,” says Mogherini, “most of all it will be a political conference, hoping that could be the moment for the international community together to turn the page and start the political transition, the reconciliation process and the reconstruction of Syria.”

In November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on all parties to the conflict in Syria to ensure humanitarian aid access throughout the country.

Foreign Affairs committee member and Spanish MEP Miguel Urbán blames a lack of political will and ambition for the persistent failure in bringing the war to an end, asking, “Where is Europe in the negotiations between the US and Russia? Very simply - absent.”

To make progress in addressing the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, the showpiece conference next month has to be more than just another talking shop. It is a real opportunity to help millions of people whose lives have been torn apart by this devastating civil war. The refugees caught up in the hell that is Syria will be looking to the international community to raise significant new funding – and honour that funding – to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of those affected.

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