Mr. Moutaz Adham:

As the country director for Oxfam in Syria, I thank the committee for giving me this platform to present our lived experience and analysis of the humanitarian context in Syria. My remarks today will focus primarily on humanitarian access and approaches, and perhaps build on what has already been shared by my colleague, the previous speaker.

In this context, and to add to what others have said, I again underline the importance of unhindered humanitarian access in Syria for humanitarian actors responding to save lives and build the resilience of people. Protecting the health, well-being and dignity of those in need is an obligation on all parties in a conflict.

It is universally accepted under international humanitarian law. This, of course, applies to the different modality of aid delivery in Syria - cross-border, that is, across international borders or across conflict lines or perhaps within the same areas of control. In the past, Oxfam has been able to deliver aid across conflict lines in the south of Syria in Dar'a and the north of Syria in Aleppo but we know that certain communities will not be reachable from Damascus. As such, all modality of operations is still very much needed. We ask that Ireland continues to be an important voice in promoting humanitarian access, which is complementary in all of its forms as an enabler of our work as aid agencies through the platform of the UN Security Council and beyond. This has never been more important in the context of collapsed health systems, damaged water and sanitation infrastructure essential to good hygiene practices and crowded displaced persons' camps and the threat of Covid-19.

It is important to stress that there are many dimensions of humanitarian access. In Syria, it is possible to deliver a principled humanitarian response from Damascus, although it is fraught with difficulties that exacerbate human suffering and that we believe there are ways to overcome. Humanitarian access amidst shifting lines and hostilities involving multiple entities - even entities with changing allegiances and identities - requires constant context analysis and negotiation based on mutual understanding of neutral, independent and impartial humanitarian action. In our experience, this can take anywhere from one week to several weeks to, in a few instances, months. In some instances, we have simply not been able to negotiate access at all. Such complexity and delay means that it is too late for communities and often beyond the patience of short-term emergency funding from donors. Critical for operational agencies is the important funding we see from donors that provides us with the flexibility to respond to needs on the ground as and when access permits. Access is not only access of humanitarian actors to vulnerable communities. It is also the access of vulnerable communities to the aid they deem critical, including aid that supports their early recovery and resilience building, something many donors are still reluctant to support. As a respected member of the donor community, Ireland can be an important voice for flexible and predictable humanitarian funding enshrined in the principles of good humanitarian donorship, including commitment to provide funding to the third pillar of the Syria humanitarian response plan.

These same principles of good humanitarian donorship affirm the role of civil society organisations in providing humanitarian assistance on the basis of need without discrimination, particularly in situations of armed conflict. To fulfil this role, it should be emphasised that humanitarian access must not be a one-off event but a continuous process of engagement of those we seek to assist. This provides space to hear their voices and the design of the "who, where, how, what and when" of aid provided and, critically, to understand from their perspective whether this has proven effective. As mentioned earlier, operating in Syria is possible but it is extremely complex. There has been much improvement in access through continuous engagement of international NGOs from Damascus with the government of Syria, including with local authorities. Much more could still be done diplomatically by both the UN system and states and their donor bodies to impress on the government of Syria the necessity of this type of access. In other contexts, this engagement would be normal. However, in the Syrian context and due to the positions of non-engagement with the government of Syria by many countries, the burden of much of that is being put on the shoulders of humanitarian actors alone. We welcome Ireland's support for these diplomatic efforts.

I have spoken about humanitarian aid and access. Justifiable attention here and debate over the preconditions for the safe return of those displaced in and outside of Syria as well as the country's reconstruction have nonetheless deflected attention from alternative approaches. Approaches such as early recovery and resilience building of vulnerable populations are in other contexts globally part of any humanitarian response. In the Syrian context, the humanitarian response has been for the most part narrowed to basic life-saving emergency response and early recovery and resilience building of the population has been conflated with the very political subject of reconstruction. I refer specifically to efforts to reduce dependency on aid and consider more dignified and sustainable solutions. This includes efforts to ensure vulnerable Syrians have sustainable access to basic services, resume income-generating opportunities, restore their capacity to observe and recover from further shocks and crises and strengthen the social fabric of a country strained by ten years of conflict. Focus on such an approach, which should accommodate the critical shift in women's roles to primary or sole breadwinners for their families, is now being accelerated by increasing poverty levels estimated at more than 90% of the population and likely to continue to increase through 2021 given the country's and worldwide economic crisis, the decreasing purchasing power of households, the debilitating effects of Covid-19 and the impact of sanctions on the country.

Viable livelihood opportunities must be accompanied by a secure environment and the availability of basic social infrastructure and services for which responsibility will ultimately have to be steered by local authorities. There is a demand for the aid system as a whole to become comfortable with engagement with local government and technical line ministry structures be they in Syria or elsewhere and, specifically, that member states and relevant regulatory bodies ensure that respective measures such as sanctions and counter-terrorism provision do not hinder a more dignified, cost-effective and sustainable response across Syria. This requires effective exemptions, clear interpretive guidance, guaranteed banking channels for the transfer of funds into Syria and a manageable level of risk sharing with implementing partners. As a donor, thought leader and respected governor within the international community, Ireland can have a constructive voice in assisting others to avoid conflating support for building the resilience of a people living too long in a crisis with the more politicised questions of the reconstruction of Syria. I shall conclude my remarks by referring the committee to our recent reports and statements shared prior to this meeting and am happy to answer any further questions it may have.