Jordan - IOM Director General William Lacy Swing has told a forum on the Syrian crisis that new and innovative approaches that address the needs and concerns of displaced and host populations, were urgently needed.

Speaking yesterday (09/11) at the UN organized Resilience Development Forum, hosted by Jordan from 8-9 November, Ambassador Swing said: “We must go beyond an exclusive focus on relief-oriented support and aim to deliver results that reduce vulnerability and build resilience for the longer term.”

The Forum brought together key humanitarian and development stakeholders, including UN agencies, international financial institutions, donors, international and national non-governmental organizations, and the private sector alongside senior government representatives from countries affected by the Syria crisis. Participants were tasked with collectively considering a new vision of the response to the crisis, now well into its fifth year.

Ambassador Swing commended the solidarity and generosity exercised by Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which are hosting millions of Syrians who have fled the conflict.

“The vast majority of Syrian refugees in the region lives alongside host communities and share local services and resources. In Lebanon, one in four inhabitants is now a refugee. This has come at a heavy price for the host countries and is threatening to reverse hard-won development gains and to undermine the stability of the region,” he said.

Ambassador Swing also told the Forum that more attention needed to be given to social capital and expanding economic networks in affected communities, and that this in combination with deepened institutional partnerships at all levels, would provide the foundation needed for social stability.

“During times in which the world is confronted with population movements on a scale rarely experienced in the past, each and every institution must look beyond narrow individual and institutional goals, and more wholeheartedly work towards identifying and addressing the specific vulnerabilities of those most in need,” he said.

In addition to voicing the importance of promoting resilience throughout programming to support displaced Syrians and hosting communities, Ambassador Swing called for resilience, as well, in the commitment of the international community to ‘stay the course’ in addressing the crisis in Syria, and to maintain resilient partnerships to ensure that both immediate and longer-term needs were being met within the region.

For more information, please contact the Syria Crisis Coordination Team at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 22 7179 946, Email: scc@iom.int