We must work together to stop the Syrian crisis

What would lead a parent to put their child in an over-crowded boat heading for rough seas? Their choice is grim: staying in their own country means enduring violence, while fleeing could bring a life of destitution. In either case, survival is not guaranteed.

It’s a horrible choice that no human being should have to make – but many Syrians have been forced to do so, increasingly choosing to leave as the conflict nears its sixth year.   

It is time for fresh thinking and inspired leadership to address the challenges posed by the conflict -- so many have died, and millions more who have survived have seen their lives torn apart. Today, the UK government is taking the lead in this direction, hosting global leaders to offer responses to the pressing humanitarian crisis that continues from this long conflict.

The tragedy has, of course, unfolded in plain view for all in Europe – an estimated 1 million Syrians entered Europe last year – but less visible to the wider world is the impact on Syria’s neighbors, and this will rightly be part of the focus in London. In particular, more than 2 million refugees from Syria are now in the neighboring countries of Jordan and Lebanon. The world has much to learn from the generosity of these two nations, even though at times, it meant sacrificing their own needs.

We estimate the economic costs at about $2.7 billion a year in Jordan and $1.6 billion a year in Lebanon.   The two countries have been the main financiers, which has led to a rapid increase in their indebtedness.  Jordan’s debt to GDP ratio is now 91 percent, and Lebanon’s debt to GDP ratio is 138 percent.  This is not sustainable.

Jordan and Lebanon – and the rest of the region as well as Turkey – are faced with a development challenge, not only a humanitarian crisis. We have a global responsibility to help them. 

Humanitarian crises can quickly turn into protracted situations that cannot be resolved with quick fixes. A refugee can remain a refugee for years, left in limbo, resulting in largely unproductive periods for millions of people, and lost potential for communities and countries.

For the few refugees who return home – only 126,800 did in 2014, the lowest number in 31 years – support is often uneven and inadequate to make reintegration actually happen. Further, many people are struggling to cope, moving from crisis to crisis and camp to camp, suffering from a range of risks that include violence against women and girls. 

So what should we be doing now? Here are five ideas that we’ll discuss further in London.

First, we need to share more in-depth analysis from particular countries and regions and to more effectively coordinate planning and implementation as we respond to humanitarian crises. The Ebola crisis showed that a siloed approach and a lack of information sharing can have deadly consequences.

Second, the international community must come together to offer more technical and financial assistance to countries to help them better prepare for shocks, whether they are due to economic crises, conflict, or natural disasters. At the World Humanitarian Summit in May in Istanbul, one outcome should be that development organizations, development banks, and humanitarian communities agree to work more closely together to tackle these difficult issues.

Third, we should be exploring how we can use innovative financial tools, including the possibility of concessional financing for middle-income countries, and insurance products for low-income countries.

For example, we at the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank Group, the United Nations, and the donor community, are working to create a concessional financing facility to support Jordan and Lebanon that will use donor grants to buy down interest payments on development banks’ lending.  We plan to raise $1 billion that will leverage between $3 billion and $4 billion of concessional finance.  In addition, we are pursuing guarantees to open up space on development banks’ balance sheets and issue bonds, which will provide additional financing for recovery and reconstruction programs in the region. 

These new financing initiatives, combined with our existing programs, are expected to total about $20 billion in the next five years – which is roughly triple our investment in the region from the previous five years.  In addition, we also are funding major initiatives in Turkey to help it deal with the influx of Syrian refugees.

Fourth, we need to step up our work helping countries under great stress from shocks -- whether from conflict or the influx of refugees -- create policies that encourage greater private sector investment.

And fifth, we are working to develop new collaboration in areas like governance, nation building, and service delivery that will help countries become more resilient to threats.  Peace and stability in the Middle East are global public goods, and require a global coalition to be successful.

Working together, we must invest in young people’s education, support communities hosting refugees, and use innovative financial tools that lead to the creation of jobs and economic opportunity. We must strongly find new ways to alleviate the great burdens from this humanitarian crisis, starting rightly with Syria’s next door neighbors.

Jim Yong Kim is the president of the World Bank Group.
Twitter: @JimKim_WBG