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Will the Minister Personally Attend the Syrian Donor Conference and Pledge?

When I asked in question period on February 20th whether the Minister of International Development would personally attend the donor conference, pledge, and champion 5.6 million Syrian children, Canada's Parliamentary Secretary replied that: "We are still in consideration of whether or not the minister is going to attend that."
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After four years of conflict in Syria, unthinkable crimes continue to occur daily in a place where extremist groups and terrorist organizations, including ISIL, are able to flourish. The Syrian crisis sharply amplifies the turmoil in the Middle East.

Over 210,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, and 7.6 million -- half of Syria's population -- have been internally displaced. It is the largest number of people displaced by any conflict in the world.

Another four million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, placing further strain on already challenging conditions, and creating the largest refugee crisis since World War ll.

More than half of all Syrian refugees are children, and the vast majority have had no access to school for months or years, making future recovery for the country even more uncertain.

Over 12 million Syrians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, 4.8 million remain in inaccessible areas, and 212,000 people are being besieged, mostly by government forces. It appears that the international humanitarian response is unable to keep pace with the needs. The extreme hardship endured by millions of Syrians will only become more acute unless immediate political action is taken to stop the violence.

Valerie Amos, the out-going UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, has said, "Syria is the biggest humanitarian crisis we face today. Every child, every woman, every man affected by this crisis deserves our continued support."

If the immediate needs for education, protection and psycho-social support are not met for the 5.6 million children currently living in desperate conditions in Syria and neighbouring countries, an entire generation could be lost and the effects of this conflict will affect Syria and the region for decades to come.

This past week, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura reported to the Security Council that the Syrian Government "indicated it was committed to suspending all aerial attacks and artillery shelling over the entire city of Aleppo for a period of six weeks."

Syria took this decision to allow the United Nations to put in place a pilot project of unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, starting with one district in Aleppo and building to others. The deeper political motivations, however, remain unclear.

During that time, the Government of Canada will have the opportunity to again, as it has in the past, contribute in a meaningful way, on behalf of all Canadians, towards lessening the suffering of the Syrian people.

On March 31st, the third donor conference will take place in Kuwait. The United Kingdom has already announced that it will pledge USD $150 million at this conference, bringing its overall commitment since the beginning of the crisis to well over a billion dollars. This is the largest amount the UK has ever committed to a humanitarian emergency anywhere, but it believes the contribution is proportionate to the problem, and that Kuwait has shown "remarkable leadership" in stepping forward to host the conference and challenging the world to do more.

When I asked in question period on February 20th whether the Minister of International Development would personally attend the donor conference, pledge, and champion 5.6 million Syrian children, Canada's Parliamentary Secretary replied that: "We are still in consideration of whether or not the minister is going to attend that."

The UN has requested over $8.4 billion in funds to help 18 million Syrians in 2015. With just weeks to go until the Kuwait conference, Canada still has not decided whether to attend or not, while the UK has already announced a major commitment.

The Syrian people need more than our compassion. They need Canada to step up to the plate. The Minister must show up in Kuwait and make a real contribution to the humanitarian effort in Syria.

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Mohammad Abu Farah teaches the children at a Save the Children youth centre in Za’atari Camp
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
“When the children arrived at the camp, they had just come from a violent war. A lot of the children were introverted and struggled to make friends. They were violent with one another. "But after we started implementing gardening classes, the children learned to work in a team, and started to build friendships," says Mohammad Abu Farah from Save the Children.
Ma’moun’s garden watered by a neighbour’s son
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Ma’moun, 54 and his wife fled to Jordan after his sister and her children were killed by a bomb. The couple now live with their newly married son and daughter in law in Za’atari Camp. After spending long, slow days unemployed in the camp, Ma’moum decided to create a garden.
“I had a wonderful garden back in Syria. It was beautiful and had everything in it. I made it into plots of squares, with specific designs, and had one flower that has five different looks. White, pink, yellow, maroon, and another colour that I’ve forgotten.
"My wife and I used to work on the garden together. I made this one, because most of the time I’m staying here and doing nothing, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. I worked very hard on it."
Naji relaxes in his garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Naji, 33 has been living with his wife and five children in Za’atari camp for two years. The family fled from their farm in Daraa after their village was heavily bombed. Naji dreams of returning to Syria and sitting in his garden, smoking an argeelah, sipping sweet tea and listening to the Lebanese singer Fairouz, like life prior to the war.
“After six months of being here [Za’atari], I made the garden so that we can start building just a bit of hope and happiness. I’m not very happy. But when I see a garden with amazing greenery and flowers, one just automatically smiles and becomes happy. But here in the camp, there’s no happiness for sure.”
Wardah studies in her family’s garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Wardah, 24 fled the violence in Syria when her family home in Daraa was destroyed. She was one semester away from completing her bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. She dreams of returning to Syria when the war is over and completing her degree so that she can one day become an accountant. “I did a month course of learning English in the camp, so I love to come here, listen to the fountain and peacefully sit and study. Education is everything to me.”
Wardah’s niece plays with the families ducks
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Mazen and his children pick vegetables from their garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Mazen and his two wives and seven children have been living in Za’atari camp for over two years. A car mechanic back in Syria, Mazen's family lived in a large house with a beautiful garden in Daraa.
“I’ve been gardening ever since I was little. My dad used to love gardening and I learnt from him. You can say I started when I was 16 years old.
"I used to come back from work tired and exhausted, and see the desert all around me. I wanted to create a space that made me one step closer to home. Even the smell of air is different when there are plants around. Especially in this place where there is a lot of dust and heat, you need plants. Plants make it a bit cooler here.”
Abu Tarek’s son fills the fountain with fresh water, while Abu Tarek watches
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Abu Tarek and his family of five left Syria almost two years ago when their house was bombed eight times. They have since been living in Za’atari Camp. In his old life, Abu Tarek was a manager of a Telecom company, he now works as a Security advisor for Save the Children in the camp. His biggest fear is that his children will not receive the education he always assumed they would, go to University and have a chance at a successful life.
“In the end, water is life, which is why the fountain means a lot to me. These decorations also give you some kind of emotional reassurance. I asked my mother who was coming here from Syria to bring flowers for me, because here in the camps no one was selling flowers and I’m in love with flowers. So before she came to Jordan, I told her please get me all of the flowers from my house in Syria. But she said that the troops stole them. I told her bring me whatever is left at the house. So these flowers you see right here are from back home.
It was my son Tariq’s idea to use the argileh for the fountain. He was having shisha and it popped into his head, he was like “let me try something”. He kept trying different angles and different positions and eventually it worked.”
Ali and his family sit in their garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Ali, 42 and his wife and five children fled from their home in Daraa a year and eight months ago. A fisherman back in Syria, Ali is currently unemployed in the camp and struggles with the concept of not being able to do more for his family.
“My entire life was good in Syria. Over there, life had meaning. Here, life is like death. I built this garden about three months ago, for people to sit around and to look at. Is there anybody on this earth who doesn’t like flowers?”
Adham working in his garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Adham, 41, was a manager of an Italian restaurant in Kuwait. When the war broke out, fearing for his wife and four children who lived in Daraa Province, Adham returned to Syria.
Adham was shot 3 times, leading him and his family to flee to Jordan. They have since been living in Za’atari camp for a year and six months.
Adham with his tools
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
“I miss my old life a lot, I cannot forget it," he says. "Every time we think about it a little bit, we cry. Plants are for the soul. When you’re sitting in the garden, you feel like there are beings around you, and when plants bloom from the ground where there are no plants you feel like you’ve done something. When we see the green colors, we remember Syria. Wherever you look, you see trees and rivers and general greenery in Syria.
I cannot look to the future now, because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Now the people ask me where I’m from, I don’t say Syria, I say from Za’atari. I forgot my own country. I am now a Za’atari man. I don’t think that I am the only one who will stay here for a long time, it will also be my kids, and their kids, and so on. Only God knows when we’ll go back.”
Abu Qasem attends his garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Abu Qasem and his family fled from Syria after their farm was shelled and his daughters and son were injured. They have since been living in Za’atari camp for over a year.
“When I’m gardening I’m keeping myself occupied so that I don’t get to feel frustrated or angry, your psychology changes when you work with plants.
This garden is an expression of love between one another, green is good. The smell is wonderful; it’s also good because it captures the dust in this desert. It locks up the heat and makes this place a bit cooler and humid.”
Adel’s children play in the garden
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Adel came to Za’atari Camp just over a year ago, with his wife and daughter after their home in Daraa was destroyed.
“My garden back in Syria was beautiful. I used a specific type of decorative white stone and planted some flowers that made the space wonderful. Here I don’t have anything to do, I am unemployed. This is what made me start gardening here. I think that if one puts one's mind to something, they can do it.
"Green space is God-given beauty, it calms the soul and the nerves. The situation is bad and everyone is worn out, so this gives us some serenity and at the same time it’s a nice space to sit and enjoy - it’s a change of scenery. This garden gives me hope.”
Samar waters her rose
Rosie Thompson/Save the Children
Samar, 48, fled to Jordan with her husband and five children after two of her brother-in-laws were killed. Za’atari camp has been home to her family for over two years.
Prior to the war in Syria, Samar, was a headmistress at a secondary school in Daraa and three of her daughters were attending university and studying Engineering, Architecture and Physics. They had a large house with a beautiful garden. Summers were spent cooking feasts with homegrown vegetables and sipping coffee under the shade of an olive tree.
“When we garden we feel happy, because there’s something to do, such as watering the plants and such, it just makes you feel like there is life. Where we’re from we’re used to the view of greenery, here there’s nothing, it’s a desert. So if there was a garden we feel like we’re home and it reminds us of our country.
Even if we are to have little joys, they wouldn’t make a great difference. If you were to have a headband made of diamonds and you were to lose 3 to 4 diamonds from it, it wouldn’t make a difference to you, but you’ll always feel like something is missing regardless. And this is what has happened to us. Our hearts are torn from deep inside from the death that has occurred.”
“I like teaching children, I haven’t changed in that aspect, but my psychological well-being has changed because of the break in my children’s education. It saddens me very much; I would have loved to see them finish their education. We were ecstatic when they graduated from high school and got amazing grades, it gave us hope that we would see them graduate from University as well, but the light of this hope has been turned off.”
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