Alliance2015, the European NGOs network of which Cesvi has been part since 2002, endorses the joint agency report “From Words to Action: Reviewing the commitments made at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference six months on”. The report, led by Save the Children, Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam International, has been signed by 48 organisations and four NGO platforms.
The Supporting Syria and the Region conference held in February this year agreed a comprehensive new approach on how we respond to this protracted crisis. This report documents the progress made to date on both the funding and the policy commitments, and proposes specific recommendations to ensure its successful implementation.
While some steps have been taken, much more needs to be done. In many places, funding is long overdue and needs to be made available promptly. Furthermore, many of the positive policy developments already underway will take time and require sustained political will, effort, and sufficient funding and technical capacity to come to fruition.
Most importantly, without comprehensively addressingissues around the legal status and documentation of refugees, largely unaddressed in London, fulfilling the other commitments made there will simply not be possible, as protection is a precondition for accessing work and education.
Alliance2015 members provide essential humanitarian aid and civil society support inside Syria and to millions of refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. We urge international donors and governments of refugee-hosting countries to use the refugee summits around the UN General Assembly (New York, 19th September) to ensure the promises made in London are finally upheld.
Cover photo: Nour Wahid/Save the Children
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Further reading:
Report “From Words to Action”
Executive Summary of the report
Our news article about “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference