CARE with Syrian partners call for real progress in protection of Syrian civilians, at the Brussels Conference, April 4 and 5. While fighting continues across Syria, the NGO cannot be satisfied with declarations that ignore Syrian voices.
"The Syrian people are being bled out slowly and painfully, while the world watches and the international community throws money at the problem rather than putting real pressure on those powers dropping bombs,” says a CARE partner working inside Syria. “The case of Syria is showing how deeply broken the UN-backed aid system is.”
In the last six years, the international community has held a multitude of international conferences with few concrete impacts for Syrian civilians.
“Syrian civilians don’t need more words of solidarity but immediate and concrete actions to stop the slaughter and end their misery. The credibility of the international community has been shattered during the recent crisis in Aleppo and Madaya, now it’s just a question of the world’s moral conscience,” says Richard Hamilton, CARE Director of the Regional Syria Response.
CARE asks for concrete measures in terms of protection of civilians inside Syria and of refugees in host countries. This means defending respect for human rights, guaranteeing humanitarian access, and developing a more efficient approach in providing humanitarian aid with long-term funding.
These points are key for the reconstruction of Syria, which will be discussed in Brussels, despite the fifth round of Geneva peace talks ending Friday with no deal in the foreseeable future.
“Reconstruction is not about buildings and infrastructure only, it is mainly about people,” explains one of CARE’s Syrian partners.
“The international community has failed the Syrian people during the war, the least they can do is ensure that future reconstruction will respect human rights and ‘Do No Harm’ principles,” says Richard Hamilton, CARE Director of the Regional Syria Response.
In seeking a diplomatic solution to this crisis, the international community must send a clear signal that any progress and reconstruction in Syria can only start with the inclusion of all Syrians. Excluding large segments of civil society in a post-conflict Syria will only result in lost knowledge, capacity and expertise.
Media contact: Laury-Anne Bellessa, CARE France, will arrange all interviews: 0033786004275, [email protected]
Find more about our work in Syria here.