* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As war persists in Syria, its healthcare system has been pushed to breaking point, 57 per cent of hospitals have been destroyed or severely damaged and people’s needs are larger than ever. Which is why every pound pledged to this crisis should get to those who need it on the ground as quickly as possible.
But despite hundreds of millions having been pledged to Syria from countries around the world, most of it has yet to be paid up.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued an urgent appeal to the world to make up this huge shortfall in funding for the Syria crisis, warning that hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees could face reductions in food aid.
“We have raised just 40 per cent of the ${esc.dollar}4.4 billion needed for Syria and neighbouring countries for this year,” he told the 68th UN General Assembly this week. “I call on governments to help us meet this unprecedented crisis while still meeting their commitments to other emergencies.”
The UN has already significantly reduced its humanitarian staff in Syria from 136 to 65 people in response to last month’s chemical attacks, making the delivery of assistance within the country even more challenging.
"Our footprint has been reduced, but we have not shut down," Rebeca Grynspan, UN under-secretary general, insisted in an interview.
The situation is not helped by the fact that much aid is simply not reaching a huge number of Syrians, especially those in areas held by the opposition. Syria has permitted aid to be taken to opposition-controlled areas from Damascus, but it continues to refuse permission for any cross-border assistance.
“Yet again, politics trumps meeting urgent need,” says Leigh Daynes, Executive Director of Doctors of the World UK. “We cannot be complicit in this conspiracy that robs innocent girls, boys, women and men of help and protection. The world has stood by in silence too many times before."
Exacerbating the funding deficit is the phenomena of people seeming less willing to give to man-made crises than to natural disasters. The recent Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Syria, for instance, raised £19 million. Compare this to the appeal for the survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami where Britons alone donated a staggering £392 million. Similarly, the appeal after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 raised £107 million.
One thing that is certain is that when aid does reach Syrians, the difference it can make is huge. Doctors of the World is one of the few organisations with doctors in Syria providing life-saving primary and mental healthcare to thousands of Syrians, as well as in Lebanon and Jordan.
“We are ready for any escalation in the conflict,” says Leigh Daynes. “We have prepared emergency medical supplies – including primary healthcare kits, surgical material, equipment for conducting caesarean section deliveries, and chemical weapon decontamination stock – to treat injured civilians. The only obstacle in our way is the fighting, which must cease immediately so that we can reach and treat all those in need.”
But until the fighting stops aid agencies need to receive the aid promised to them so they can continue saving as many lives as possible.
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