Following last week’s conference in London where governments pledged significant sums to scale up the Syrian humanitarian response, CEO and Secretary General of CARE International, Dr Wolfgang Jamann, outlines how this money could best be spent, and why.
Over 10 billion dollars were pledged at last week’s Supporting Syria and the Region’ donor conference in London. While governments pledge money to increase the scale of the humanitarian response, since January 1st 2016, over 67,000 people have arrived in Europe by sea after making the dangerous crossing over the Mediterranean. Billions of dollars pledged towards the relief effort in Syria cannot stop people from making the deathly journey unless the money effectively tackles the root causes of displacement.
The world’s attention has been largely focused on those leaving Syria. As footage of boats landing on Greek islands circulate and Europe debates how to best deal with migrants, countries such as Jordan host the overwhelming majority of the Syrian refugees and are at ‘a boiling point’. However, much less attention is paid to those Syrians who remain inside Syria.
Agricultural production in southern Syria. Photos: CARE International.
A joint CARE, NRC and FAO report released today, ‘The Forgotten South: Food Security & Livelihoods in Southern Syria’, details sobering statistics about the life and eroding livelihoods of southern Syrians. Local economies are collapsing, incomes are falling and government services are no longer available. However, there are opportunities to restore livelihoods and empower households to develop greater resilience to shocks. Livelihoods assistance not only tackles the root causes of displacement in the short term, it also addresses longer term needs of Syrians by supporting income restoration for households. Most importantly, livelihood assistance promotes human dignity.
According to the report, the most common source of income for families in southern Syria is engagement with armed groups. Simultaneously, 87% of the population in the surveyed area are dependent on food aid as a primary source for one or more food items.
Clearly, war is not sustainable for the Syrian population, though the numbers suggest an interesting story about the external funding financing the war. With livelihoods destroyed by conflict, Syrians have no choice but to rely on very limited food aid, and adopt harmful coping strategies such as joining or working for armed groups as a means of providing for their families.
A study of livelihoods in southern Syria is fundamentally about the economic consequences of war on the local population. Decent work and livelihoods can strengthen entire communities and can lay the foundation for a prosperous future. In turn, strong local economies can aid in the transition from conflict to peace.
A joint NGO position paper on last week’s London Syria conference stresses that assistance must be conflict-sensitive: it should create and promote the conditions for peace. Livelihoods support is sensitive to local dynamics and strengthens relationships between community members by restoring and supporting local economies. By encouraging local businesses and markets, dependence on food aid can be reduced. Providing support to local initiatives increases the capacity of local actors to help themselves, and breaks the link between survival and the war economy.
Lack of steady income for conflict-affected communities can have far-reaching consequences, and not just in terms of money. CARE has found that rates of child marriage increase during emergencies when families struggle to feed all of their children. Emergency cash and food aid is not enough: it will take more than just money to help the Syrian people.
Follow Dr Wolfgang Jamann on Twitter: @wjamann