Sweden supporting people affected by Syria crisis

There is an enormous need of humanitarian assistance to those affected in Syria and its neighbouring countries. In Syria alone, 13.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid of some kind.

Sweden is taking responsibility and providing a number of measures to assist people affected by the Syria crisis. These include life-saving measures and protection programmes for the most vulnerable people in Syria, vaccinations against polio and measles, and temporary learning centres via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Sweden is also providing support to Syrian refugees via the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Since the inception of the Syria crisis, Sweden has contributed a total of more than SEK 1.9 billion (264 MUSD/210 MEUR) in humanitarian support. Sweden is also the country in the western world that has taken in most refugees from Syria per capita since the outbreak of the crisis – 117 000 so far. At the same time, the suffering continues for the millions of people affected in Syria and its neighbouring countries.

Alongside the humanitarian aid, the Government has therefore decided to increase support to the people in Syria and the neighbouring countries most affected by the conflict. Sweden has decided to develop a five-year aid plan for the Syrian crisis. This strategy, which was launched on 17 December 2015, aims to strengthen the Syrian people's as well as the neighbouring countries' resilience and capacity to adapt and recover from the conflict.

This will be achieved by improving the possibilities people inside Syria as well as vulnerable communities in neighbouring countries, including refugees from Syria, to provide for themselves, by increasing the provision of ing basic public services such as water, health care and education, and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. The strategy will also encompass development projects to strengthen Syrian civil society organisations in their work for peace and democracy, human rights and gender equality, which are fundamental to future democracy in Syria.

Overall:

• The new Syrian crisis strategy encompasses SEK 1.7 billion between 2016 and 2020.
  
  
• The new strategy also involves an increase in annual development aid from SEK 50 million to SEK 340 million.