Canada pledges $229 million to help victims of Syria conflict, refugees

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada is giving $229 million in aid for Syria and neighbouring nations hosting refugees from the war-torn state.

The aid package includes $169 million for food, clean water and hygiene and health services, as well as support for women facing sexual and domestic violence.

Canada is playing a key role in an international conference in Brussels Tuesday on finding a lasting political solution to the conflict in Syria. The aid is to be funnelled through the United Nations and international aid agencies, including the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The Syrian conflict began 11 years ago, and has led to the displacement of millions of people, and more than four million people have fled to the northwest province of Idlib where they rely on international aid to survive.

The aid package will also help Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, where many Syrian refugees have fled President Bashar Assad’s Moscow-backed regime.

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Some of the aid will help buy grain for the region, which usually relies on wheat from Ukraine as a staple food source.

The war in Ukraine has also escalated the situation in Syria, due to rising global food costs which has forced some agencies to scale back food assistance.

“While the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to demand world attention, donors and governments meeting in Brussels must not forget about their commitment to Syria,” NRC’s Mideast Regional Director Carsten Hansen said in a report Thursday.

Insufficient funding should not be the cause of further suffering of the people in #Syria

The unfinished #COVID19 agenda requires collective action by the international community and humanitarian actors@aics_it @WHOSyria @UndpSyria #WithSyria | #SyriaConf2022 pic.twitter.com/ZQbrLYXvt4

— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) May 10, 2022

Others have pointed out that while efforts to help war-torn Ukrainians continue following the Russian invasion which began in February, the aid to other conflicts has been shifted to that country instead.

As the world turns to other conflicts, “Syria is on the verge of becoming yet another forgotten crisis,” Assistant U.N. Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya warned in late April.

Aid agencies are hoping to draw the attention back to Syria in a two-day conference in Brussels, hosted by the U.N. and the European Union.

With files from The Associated Press