Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Joyce Msuya -Statement for Brussels VII Conference “Supporting the future of Syria and the region,” Brussels, 15 June 2023

As delivered

Excellencies, representatives of civil society organizations, UN, ladies and gentlemen I thank the European Union for again organizing this critical conference in support of the people of Syria.

And I want to thank all of you for your participation and for the generous pledges announced so far today.

This year, the conference matters more than ever.

Over the past two days, we have heard repeated testimony of the unprecedented scale, severity and complexity of the situation in Syria: from the Secretary-General, from delegations, and most importantly, from Syrians themselves.

One message kept coming up time and time again: The people of Syria are facing their highest levels of humanitarian need in the history of this grueling 12-year conflict.

Ongoing hostilities, a deepening economic crisis, climatic shocks and, on top of everything else, the devastation of the earthquakes in February, mean that the situation continues to deteriorate.

Chronic electricity, fuel and water shortages are further deepening vulnerabilities and undermining essential services, livelihoods, and the delivery of assistance.

And millions of women and girls in particular continue to suffer wide-ranging threats to their health and safety, with gender-based violence remaining a defining and tragic feature of the Syrian humanitarian crisis.

Commissioner,

The scale of the needs is unprecedented. So is our $11 billion humanitarian appeal for 2023 and, I’m sad to say, the level of underfunding.

Indeed, half-way through the year, our $5.4 billion appeal for the situation inside Syria is only 11 per cent funded.

And our $5.8 billion appeal for the 12.9 million refugees and their host communities in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye is at just 10 per cent funded. These are the communities and countries that have so generously provided sanctuary to fleeing Syrians – and continue to do so even as economic strain deepens across the region.

The Syrian people desperately need the assistance of the humanitarian community. And we desperately need your support to provide it to them – for two reasons:

First, to provide lifesaving assistance.

Second, to scale up early recovery programming, as we have heard before. This includes resilience interventions that reinforce immediate life-saving humanitarian assistance, bolster remaining essential services before they collapse, and that over time will gradually lessen communities’ dependence on external assistance.

The Syrian people want to rebuild their lives, their communities, their economy. I have heard this first-hand when I visited Syria last year. And I know that the humanitarian community remains determined to do everything it can to support.

For example, despite funding challenges and a complex operational environment, our humanitarian partners delivered life-saving assistance to 7.8 million people each month last year.

Let me also remind that the humanitarian pooled funds, including the CERF, are strategically positioned to make the most effective and efficient use of available funds.

Cross-border assistance has been, and remains, a lifeline for over 4 million people in the northwest of Syria.

We saw this most recently following the February 6 earthquakes. Access for supplies and relief teams via the Al Ra’ee and Bab al-Salam border crossings has been a vital component to the massive cross-border assistance operation through Bab al-Hawa. Allow me here to welcome the decision by the Government of Syria to extend their agreement to the use of the two crossings until 13 August.

We are now less than four weeks away from the expiration of the authorization by the Security Council of cross-border assistance via Bab al-Hawa crossing.

Bab al-Hawa continues to be the centre of gravity for the UN cross-border operation. This crossing gives access to Idleb, where 70 per cent of the people in need of assistance are located. It is indispensable, and I sincerely hope that, by July 2023, the Security Council will reach consensus on extending its authorization for this cross-border operation for 12 months.

It is vital to ensure sustained humanitarian access to people in need in Syria via every possible modality, including cross-border and cross-line missions. The needs are too great and too many lives are at stake.

Ladies and gentlemen,

After 12 years of violence and suffering, what Syrians need more urgently than ever is an end to this conflict.

We call on all parties to place the needs of the Syrian people first. We urge them to renew efforts to secure a nationwide ceasefire and a political settlement. We appeal to them to help create the conditions for the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity.

Syrians deserve a dignified life and a better future.

In the meantime, we cannot let Syrians suffer. We cannot allow Syria to become a forgotten emergency. We must continue to do everything we can to support the people of Syria for as long as it takes.

We are deeply, deeply grateful to all donors for their generous contributions, and we urge all others to come forward with support.

The people of Syria are counting on us.

Thank you.