David Cameron working with Qatar to solve the Syrian crisis

Date

2/5/2016 5:07:07 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Ajay Sharma

Today the British Prime Minister David Cameron will co-host a conference “Supporting Syria and the region 2016” with leaders from Germany Kuwait Norway and the United Nations. After almost five years of civil war with over a quarter of a million dead and millions displaced the Syrian people badly need the support of the international community.

Qatar understands this and continues to be a major contributor of humanitarian assistance through the government and Qatari charities in particular on education. I am delighted that Qatar will be represented at the London conference by Her Highness Sheikha Moza and the Foreign Minister His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani.

It will take an ambitious new approach by the whole international community to provide longer term support for refugees: through concrete action on livelihoods and jobs and improved access to education – giving refugees the skills they need for the future and the best chance of a successful return home. This will be the focus of the London conference.

The conference will seek to raise significant new funding to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of those affected. The 2016 UN coordinated appeals for the Syria crisis call for US$7.7 billion. An additional US$1.2 billion in funding is required by affected regional governments hosting refugees.

The UK has been a leading force in attempts to address the situation in Syria and the Prime Minister’s consistent focus has been on providing a comprehensive solution to the current refugee crisis which deals with the root causes rather than just responding to the consequences.

That means working with the international community to bring about an end to the brutal conflict in the country. The UK’s comprehensive strategy contains three strands covering the political military and humanitarian dimensions. Politically the UK is deeply involved in the International Syria Support Group working towards a political transition to a peaceful future. Militarily the UK contributes to the campaign in the region to defeat Daesh. And as the second largest bilateral donor after the US pledging over £1.1 billion so far to Syria and the region to provide support such as food shelter medical care and clean drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people affected by the conflict our humanitarian efforts have also been extensive.

Elsewhere the generosity shown by countries such as Qatar and neighbouring countries such as Jordan Turkey and Lebanon has undoubtedly saved many lives and allowed people to stay close to home avoiding perilous journeys towards Europe.

However we all need to do more. The London conference on Syria cannot solve the complex problems facing Syria and a political solution remains necessary to end the conflict. We must all act now to address immediate needs but also with an eye on building for the future.

Ajay Sharma is the British Ambassadorto Qatar.

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