Two years on, aid efforts struggle to keep up with a shattered Syria
| Antakya, Turkey
Earlier this month, aid group Syria Relief and Development traveled to Idlib Province to pass out clothing and toys to children. Two days later, a missile struck the town, killing half of its residents.
The incident highlights the limits on what aid groups can do to relieve the suffering of Syrians caught in the endlessly escalating conflict.听
鈥淲e can distribute aid each day, we can treat the injured, but to be honest, our leaders need to know that even if we were to throw billions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid at Syria, it does not circumvent the need to find a political solution now. This situation is not sustainable for the long term,鈥� says Jomana Qaddour,听a Syrian living in the US who has been volunteering as a legal counsel for the aid group.
This week the Syrian conflict marks its two-year anniversary. What started as a protest movement has transformed into a civil war that has claimed more than 70,000 lives, forced more than 1 million Syrian refugees to flee the country, and displaced more than 2.5 million inside Syria.
The scope of the humanitarian crisis听has grown so much that it often听exceeds the听capacity听of those working to deliver adequate assistance.听Aid workers听say that the situation is only expected to听worsen considerably in the听coming year,听hindering听an already underfunded aid effort.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to show no willingness to leave office. The dividing lines between Syria鈥檚 sects, ethnic groups, and political parties have grown so deep that if Mr. Assad were to unexpectedly step down or be assassinated,听the civil war would likely continue along new frontlines.
鈥淭here are areas where you have rebel advances and rebel successes, you have areas where the regime has hit hard, but ultimately it looks like it鈥檚 just a bitter stalemate,鈥� says Aram Nerguizian, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
If the situation continues as it is now, the United Nations has warned that the number of refugees could climb to nearly 3 million by the end of this year.
This week, the United Nation鈥檚 World Food Programme announced that, due to funding shortages, it may begin having trouble delivering supplies. Since August 2011, the organization has distributed 83,000 metric tons of food, a weight equivalent to about 500 jumbo jets, to millions of Syrians, despite a听myriad of challenges.
鈥淭his emergency is one of the most complex that we have dealt with,鈥� says Laure Chadraoui, a public information officer for WFP. 鈥淲e have logistical difficulties turning the money into food that we can buy and then move inside Syria to reach the 14 governorates. We have security challenges, obviously, we have to ensure the safety of our staff, of our trucks, of the food, and the people we serve. But above all we have funding constraints. Without the money, we won鈥檛 be able to buy the food and assist a big number of people in Syria.鈥�
To continue its work from now until June, the organization needs $156 million, or roughly 40 percent of the total amount of听humanitarian assistance the US has pledged听to Syria thus far.
In January, international donors pledged $1.5 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to Syrians via UN programs. To date, however, less than a quarter of the promised money has been spent, with many UN offices saying they鈥檝e received none of the assistance money pledged largely by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
鈥淎s always with these international emergencies these donor countries have actually got to come through with the pledge, they actually have to make those resources available,鈥� says Carolyn Miles,听CEO of Save the Children. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get those resources from donor countries to start flowing through those agencies and into the programs.鈥�
With 3 million buildings damaged or destroyed amid the fighting and a generation of Syrian children missing years of schooling 鈥� in Aleppo only 6 percent of children attend school 鈥� the nation will likely require a long and sustained international commitment if it is to rebuild. Prior to the war, Syria was one of the poorest Arab countries and two years of fighting has now left its economy in shambles.
鈥淭his is a country that does not have any major raw resources, like oil and gas. How are you going to reconstruct Syria? How are you going to put together the social fabric, the various communities?鈥� says Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. 鈥淢y take is that very few nations will contribute the funds necessary 鈥� to really begin the reconstruction.鈥�
