Question Period Note: Canada's Humanitarian Response in Syria

Inside Syria, over 13.1 million people remain in need of humanitarian assistance, including over 2 million in hard to reach areas. Restricted access continues to plague the humanitarian response.

• Canada is providing $1.86 billion over five years in humanitarian and development assistance as part of our comprehensive response for the Middle East. This includes up to $1.4B in humanitarian assistance to the region, $450 million of which for assistance inside Syria.

• Canada's UN, Red Cross, and NGO partners provide lifesaving assistance throughout Syria. This assistance is being delivered using a variety of means to ensure that assistance reaches those who need it most.

• Canada also supports longer-term development projects that deliver basic services, support livelihoods, and strengthen Syrian organizations to build the resilience of communities and help create civil society space that is essential to building an inclusive future in Syria.

Canada's humanitarian partners work to provide lifesaving assistance such as water, food, shelter, protection, education, and health services throughout Syria. Humanitarian projects also address the specific needs and rights of women and girls, by providing services such as sexual and reproductive health, mental health support and psychosocial services for victims of Gender Based Violence, and livelihood opportunities for women and youth.

Canadian-funded humanitarian projects are implemented across Syria; however, humanitarian access for all partners remains a key challenge. Complex mechanisms for approval of convoys, repeated attacks on medical and humanitarian infrastructure, and the overall politicization of humanitarian access are but a few of the challenges partners face daily.

Northwest and Northeast Syria are two areas severely affected by the escalation of the conflict in 2019. Humanitarian partners rely on a variety of modalities to reach those most in need, including regular programming, cross-line and cross-border access. Canada strongly supports the renewal the United Nations Security Council resolution on cross-border access (UNSCR 2449).

As part of Canada's renewed Middle East Strategy, Canada is providing $116.5M in humanitarian assistance funding for Syria over three years (2019-2021) [unannounced], in addition to $333.5M provided from 2016 to 2019. Canada's flexible multi-year approach to humanitarian assistance funding has allowed partners to prepare and respond to the evolving situation in Syria. For example, in 2018, Canada's support to multilateral partners helped improve access to water and sanitation services for 1.3M people, deliver food assistance to 4.5M people and provide sexual and reproductive health services to approximately 1.4M beneficiaries.

Canada's modest development assistance for Syria seeks to build the capacity of communities and households to withstand the debilitating effects of the conflict. This is accomplished by supporting the provision of basic services, livelihoods and employment (especially for women), and by helping Syrian civil society to engage meaningfully in building an inclusive future in Syria.

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