Ahead of Donor Conference, MSF Urges That Humanitarian Situation in N.Syria Be Resolved

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2021) Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is urging governments and private donors to continue efforts to help resolve the "dire" humanitarian situation in the northeast and northwest of Syria, Michiel Hofman, the organization's director of operations, told Sputnik in an interview.

The MSF currently operates in Syria's northeastern and northwestern regions, and Hofman said that providing relief to the large internally displaced population, numbering almost two million in the north of the country, and improving access to health care services, are the two greatest challenges for the organization at the present time.

"We are very well aware that the humanitarian problems are all over the country. Even in those two areas, it is quite clear that the situation remains dire," the MSF's director of operations said.

The European Union is set to host the fifth donor conference for Syria and the region from March 29-30, almost one year after the fourth meeting that raised 6.9 billion Euros ($8.2 billion) in pledges.

Hofman said that the MSF receives the bulk of its funding from private donors, adding that the organization has strong disagreements with the EU over its refugee policy since 2016.

However, the MSF's director of operations expressed his hope that leaders at the upcoming donor conference pledge to provide greater humanitarian assistance to Syria and the region.

"I would hope that not just the EU but any other private or government donors would continue to recognize that the scale of the humanitarian crisis has not diminished over the last few years, that there will be a continuation of the humanitarian funding in general for Syria," he stated.

According to Hofman, many humanitarian organizations operating in Syria are reliant on funding from governments and other international organizations, such as the European Union.

"Many other organizations that are doing both medical and non-medical humanitarian activities would rely on this funding and the presence of donor funding means that a lot of organizations are indeed able to provide humanitarian assistance, and we see that," the MSF official said.

Speaking on March 10, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the humanitarian situation in Syria "remains a living nightmare," and called for progress toward a political solution to the conflict.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a July press release, said that Moscow supports the delivery of humanitarian aid "to all those in need throughout Syria in strict compliance with the norms of international humanitarian law."