Mr. Niall O'Keeffe:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for providing us with the opportunity to meet them today and provide them with a briefing on the Syrian humanitarian crisis. Ten years ago this month civil protests escalated quickly into a civil war and since that time Syria has become and remains one of the world's largest, most deadly and most complex humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people, and by some estimates more than half a million, have been killed and more than half the population of 23 million people have been displaced from their homes. The lives of many Syrians have changed significantly and for the worst. Our five organisations have prepared a joint briefing document for the committee, which I hope it received and which outlines our priorities.

When we were preparing for this meeting, we thought it would be extremely valuable if the committee could hear first hand from our Syrian colleagues who come with lived experience and significant expertise. We have provided the committee with a biography of each of three speakers. To introduce them, the committee will first hear from Mr. Nasser Alheraki, the area co-ordinator for GOAL in north-west Syria, followed by Mr. Moutaz Adham, the country director for Oxfam in Syria, and, lastly, followed by Dr. Rouba Mhaissen, the director of a Syrian organisation called SAWA for Development and Aid, which is a Trócaire partner organisation. Each speaker will provide a short input of approximately five minutes each, following which we look forward to discussion with the committee members.

Before we begin, it is also important for us to highlight that as humanitarian organisations in the course of our discussions with the committee, we may face some challenges in commenting publicly or even in depth on the politics of the current situation.

The safety of our staff and colleagues is critical for us. Our primary focus is on the provision of principled humanitarian assistance to those who are affected by the crisis. With that in mind I will now hand over to Mr. Alheraki.