Kuwait City – The countries that participated this Wednesday (15) at the Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, in Kuwait City, have committed to donating more than US$ 2.4 billion this year. “This shows Syrians they have not been abandoned and sends a strong message to neighboring countries [which have harbored refugees] that they don’t have to carry this burden alone,” said the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, at the end of the meeting.
Kuna
Ban: Violence has to stop
In the first edition of the conference, held one year ago, also in Kuwait, the sum raised reached US$ 1.5 billion. Ban urged the countries which have announced donations to make them soon, because the crisis is worse and so are the needs. According to him, the money will help UN agencies and other humanitarian aid entities fulfill the basic needs of those affected by the war in the following six months.
The United Nations believes that the total amount necessary for the whole year is of US$ 6.5 billion, but the organization’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, emphasized that needs are revised all the time and the figure may change. “It depends on what will happen [from now on in Syria], if necessary we’ll ask donors for more,” she declared.
Amos stated that humanitarian aid institutions are always after resources, not only during events such as this. “We tell donors that the amount is relatively small in comparison to what is spent to save banks,” she stated, referring to the huge sums of money used to reestablish the international financial system since the financial crisis started in 2008.
In this sense, Amos considered the conference a “success”. “But we do not want to have to organize a third conference,” she said. Currently 40% of the Syrian population has been affected by the war, there are 9.3 million people among refugees and those who have been dislocated inside Syria itself. “That is why I believe a political process [for peace negotiation] is so urgent,” she added.
On January 22, in Montreux, Switzerland, a second attempt to start peace negotiations – the first was in June 2012, which was unsuccessful – shall be organized, this time, placing opposing sides of the conflict face to face. For Ban, the international community has to pressure the parties involved to start this political process, create a transition government and stop the violence. “Syrians want peace,” he emphasized. “[The conflict] is spreading instability throughout the region,” he added.
Alexandre Rocha/ANBA
Amos: Political process is urgent
According to the UN secretary-general, however, Iran’s participation has not yet been confirmed, a key participant in the region’s geopolitics. There is resistance particularly from the United States, but Ban believes the Persian country’s participation “is important”. Also pending confirmation is the participation of the fragmented coalition in opposition to the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad, regime. “The most important thing is to stop the violence,” emphasized Ban Ki-moon.
It is clear to the UN and other participants in this Wednesday’s conference, that all parties involved in the conflict are to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Syria. According to Amos, it is very hard to provide assistance to about 2.5 million people inside the country, of which 240,000 are completely surrounded and besieged, 40,000 by opposing militants and 200,000 by the government itself. The very real possibility of starvation hangs in the air.
One of the reasons why Syrian instability has spread to neighboring countries, particularly Lebanon, is the immense flow of refugees, estimated at 3 million people. “The responsibility of harboring refugees lies not only with neighbor countries, but with the international community,” said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterrez. He urged countries around the world to help the entrance of Syrian refugees escaping the war. “It’s no use opening a door to find another one closed, we don’t want to see refugees drowning in the Mediterranean,” he stated.
Brazil
At the conference, the head of Business at the Brazilian Embassy in Kuwait, João Tabajara Júnior, said that the Brazilian government is going to be flexible in issuing visas for Syrian refugees.
Alexandre Rocha/ANBA
Guterrez urged countries to open their borders
The diplomat also announced that Brazil is donating US$ 300,000 this year to the humanitarian aid efforts for those affected by the conflict. At the 2013 conference, the country promised US$ 250,000 – and not US$ 500,000 as was published by ANBA on a previous report – but had previously sent three US$ 120,000 installments for the assistance work carried out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
Among the donations announced are Sweden, with US$ 35 million. Germany is donating 30 million euro; South Korea, US$ 5 million; Japan, US$ 120 million; Ireland, US$ 16.3 million; Luxembourg, 5 million euro; and Oman is donating US$ 10 million.
The greatest donor however, was the hosting country, Kuwait, with US$ 500 million. “Kuwait has become a global humanitarian center,” said Ban, who thanked the country’s emir, Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
