Syria pledging conference aims to find long-term solutions to crisis

Billions are needed to help Syrians rebuild their lives after devastating earthquake and 12 years of war

Rescue teams search for survivors in Idlib, Syria. Abd Almajed Alkarh for The National

“There’s no mercy for displaced people – we want to start living our lives,” Sarah Ahmad, who sleeps under a bridge after losing her home and several members of her family in Syria's devastating earthquake, said as she wept.

The resident of Idlib in north-eastern Syria spoke to The National by phone, still suffering four months after the earthquake disrupted millions of lives and killed thousands.

While international groups have been working over the past several months to help the victims, more needs to be done.

Finding long-term solutions to help Syrians rebuild their lives following the earthquake and years of war will be the aim of a coming international pledging conference.

The EU will on Wednesday host the seventh Brussels Conference on “supporting the future of Syria and the region” to raise awareness of the need to maintain support for the Syrian people.

International donors will make humanitarian commitments to Syria, but they must start funding long-term programmes to help civilians rebuild and recover from more than a decade of suffering.

“Early recovery and rebuilding should start as soon as possible after an emergency. In the region and north-west of Syria, people want to start recovering and they would like to stop relying on aid and assistance,” Alam Janbein, Action Aid's senior programme manager for Syria, told The National.

Action Aid works with women and youths with the aim of providing better opportunities for affected communities.

Building up emergency recovery aid and early initiatives is the way forward, she said.

Children play at a displacement camp in the rebel-held north-western Syrian province of Aleppo. AFP

“It's been amazing to see how young people there would like to invest in their future starting from education to vocational training opportunities, anything that would empower them as a community they want to build on,” Ms Janbein said.

The two-day aid conference will aim to ensure continued assistance for the Syrian people by mobilising the international community in support of a political solution to the conflict, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Nearly 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line, with more than 15 million needing humanitarian assistance, a trend that has been sustained for several past years, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.

“The risk of collapse of Syria’s critical infrastructure is a pressing concern,” the ICRC said.

The humanitarian body is calling on donor states “for an immediate international commitment to safeguard critical infrastructure and essential services, and to ensure that a comprehensive humanitarian response can be sustained while more durable solutions can be found”.

Last year, the Brussels Conference raised $6.7 billion in aid for Syria and countries hosting refugees.

This year's conference will aim to raise $5.41 billion, according to the UN.

“It's been 12 years of crisis in Syria and this continues because of the way the response is largely underfunded – the humanitarian response plan is only funded by 7 per cent,” Ms Janbein said.

“It means that it is not addressing the root causes of these vulnerabilities.”