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02.02.2016 | Press Release

Now Turn Pledges into Action

Civil society verdict on Supporting Syria donors’ conference

Welthungerhilfe and a global coalition calls on world leaders to commit to an ambitious new multi-billion dollar deal for Syrian refugees and the countries hosting them in the region.
Welthungerhilfe and a global coalition calls on world leaders to commit to an ambitious new multi-billion dollar deal for Syrian refugees and the countries hosting them in the region. © Jens Grossmann/Welthungerhilfe
Simone Pott Team Communications

An international coalition of over 30 non-governmental organisations today welcomed the ambition demonstrated at the ‘Supporting Syria And the Region’ donor conference in London to increase the scale and scope of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, but said that overall pledges for 2016 fell more than $3 billion short of what was urgently needed. The NGOs, including Welthungerhilfe, Oxfam, Sawa Aid and Development, and Islamic Relief, applauded the generosity of some donors while encouraging others also to pledge their fair share. They also warned that many Syrians would continue to suffer unless more was done to ensure their protection inside and outside the country, and an end to the violence in Syria.

Joint briefing paper for download

“Of course we welcome the funds pledged today, but all the money in the world won't protect children in their beds from barrel bombs. We need action to stop the indiscriminate bombardment of Syrians, to protect those under siege and facing starvation, and those barred by violence or bureaucracy from safely accessing food, water and shelter. We urge all those with influence to exert concerted diplomatic pressure on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and with the UN Security Council’s binding resolutions,” said Raed al-Saleh, head of the Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets. 

Joint position paper for download

The groups acknowledged conference participants’ condemnation of the widespread violations of international humanitarian law by all warring parties but warned that condemnation alone was scant consolation to Syrian civilians suffering extreme fear and deprivation on a daily basis inside Syria. They said that increased assistance must be accompanied by efforts to promote a comprehensive solution to the root causes of the conflict, and provide safe and legal routes for refugees to resettle beyond the region. 

“Of course we welcome the funds pledged today, but all the money in the world won't protect children in their beds from barrel bombs. We need action to stop the indiscriminate bombardment of Syrians, to protect those under siege and facing starvation, and those barred by violence or bureaucracy from safely accessing food, water and shelter. We urge all those with influence to exert concerted diplomatic pressure on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and with the UN Security Council’s binding resolutions,” said Raed al-Saleh, head of the Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets.  

The groups acknowledged conference participants’ condemnation of the widespread violations of international humanitarian law by all warring parties but warned that condemnation alone was scant consolation to Syrian civilians suffering extreme fear and deprivation on a daily basis inside Syria. They said that increased assistance must be accompanied by efforts to promote a comprehensive solution to the root causes of the conflict, and provide safe and legal routes for refugees to resettle beyond the region. 

Supporting Syria and the Region

The money pledged today will go some way towards alleviating the suffering of the millions of conflict-affected Syrians inside and outside of the country, but more needs to be done to end the sieges and ensure humanitarian access to all areas. Furthermore, the overall amount pledged falls short of what is urgently needed,” said Salma Kahale, Executive Director of Dawlaty.  

The three main refugee-hosting countries, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, agreed to take steps to open up their labour markets to refugees and to improve regulation and the investment climate.

“A million new jobs could help give hope to Syrian refugees and host countries; work permits must be accessible and affordable. This is a long-term crisis, which is why we must ensure jobs and decent, non-exploitative work not just emergency cash. Because we know without income, refugee families are at high risk of child marriage, sexual exploitation and child labour,” said Laurie Lee, CEO of Care International UK.

The NGOs welcomed governments’ commitment to ensure that all Syrian refugees and children in host countries have access to a safe and quality education by the 2016/2017 school year.

“The significant new funding spread over several years announced today represents a major step forward in getting millions of children back to school, although we need detail on the policies to make this happen. Syrian children have been denied their right to education for too long, so we look forward to seeing them all back in the classroom. But the international community still needs to do more to support education inside Syria, where 2.1 million children are currently out of school and schools are being destroyed, damaged and occupied on a regular basis,” said Tove Wang, CEO of Save the Children Norway.

The NGOs called for robust and transparent monitoring of pledges and implementation after the conference to ensure that commitments made in London are translated into concrete, coordinated action.

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organisations in Germany; politically independent and non-denominational. It is fighting for ‘Zero Hunger by 2030’. Since its establishment, more than 8,500 overseas projects in 70 countries have been supported with 3.27 billion euros. Welthungerhilfe works on the basic principle of help for self-help: from rapid disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organisations

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The full list of signatories to this press release is: 

Action on Armed Violence; ActionAid; Age International; Algeria League for Defence of Human Rights; American Friends Service Committee; Amnesty International; Arab Coalition for Sudan; Arab Institute for Democracy; Arab Program for Human Rights Activists; Arab Renaissance for Democracy & Development; Basmeh & Zeitooneh; Baytna Syria; Broederlijk Delen; CARE International; Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD); Center for Victims of Torure; ChildrenPlus; Christian Aid; CIVICUS; Comité catholique contre la faim et pour le développement (CCFD-Terre solidaire); Concern Worldwide ; Conectas (Brazil); Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU); Danish Refugee Council; Deutsche Welthungerhilfe; Development and Peace; Diakonia; Doctors of the World UK; Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights; Embrace the Middle East; Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH); Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) ; Global Communities; GOAL International; Handicap International Federation; Helen Bamber Foundation; Hivos; Human Appeal; Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS; International Alert; IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (Turkey); International Rescue Committee; Islamic Relief UK; Islamic Relief USA ; Jesuit Refugee Service; Johanniter International Assistance ; Karam Foundation; Kontras; Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation ; Malala Fund; Malteser International; Médecins du Monde (MdM); Mercy Corps; Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies ; Norwegian Church Aid; Norwegian Refugee Council; Open Doors International; Oxfam; Pax Christ Flanders; Pax Christi International; Permanent Peace Movement; Physicians for Human Rights ; Première Urgence Internationale; Protection Approaches ; Qatar Red Crescent; Refugees International ; Relief & Reconciliation for Syria AISBL (R&R Syria); Save the Children; Sawa for Development and Aid; Sawa Foundation; Secours Islamique France (SIF); Society for Threatened Peoples ; Solidarités International; Support to Life (Turkey); Syria Relief ; Syria Relief and Development ; Syrian American Medical Society Foundation (SAMS); Syrian Network for Human Rights ; Tearfund; The Peace Appeal Foundation; The Violations Documentation Center in Syria - VDC ; Theirworld; Trocaire; United to End Genocide; Venro; Vision GRAM-International ; War Child UK; WATAN; World Food Program USA; World Jewish Relief; World Vision; World Vision Deutschland; and Zarga Organization for Rural Development.

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