International Organizations are not effective enough in Syria regarding Humanitarian crisis
| Subject: | ⚖️ Law |
| Type: | Informative Essay |
| Pages: | 9 |
| Word count: | 2366 |
| Topics: | 🏛️ Justice, ✔️ Political Science, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, 📖 Social Studies |
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Introduction
As various global aid organizations are struggling to utilize their precious resources efficiently on a horde of crises, they name the humanitarian condition in Syria as the worst internationally. Millions of people in the country were forced to flee their households after the outbreak of the civil war about seven years ago in 2011. Moreover, the figure of displaced individuals continues to rise with no solutions to the conflict forthcoming. Over 12 million individuals are affected by the violence, where about 7.6 million citizens displaced inside the Syria and more than three million displaced in the bordering countries. A number of the refugees live in formal camps while the majority live in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon. Moreover, some of them have also fled to Iraq and Egypt, and many others remain inside the country; however, they have had to leave their families and homes. Most of them have also been impacted by the activities of terrorist Islamic State group. Among the challenges for the international community and organization regarding the problem is just the extent of the issue. Therefore, through a critical examination of the issue in Syria, one can point out that the problem is on the rise and containing the same has been difficult concerning the number of individuals that are supposed to be served the non-governmental organizations in the country.
Numerous limitations, imposed either by the armed groups or the government, have incessantly restricted the access to the country’s territory to the global organizations; hence, worsening the humanitarian crisis and the requirement for a valid action in the nation. The local Syrian agencies, have been in the forefront concerning filling the gap left by the international humanitarian initiatives, through the use of their networks as well as connections to offer help and protection to the citizens in need (El-Khatib et al.18). However, their attempts are significantly restricted and destabilized by the challenges of accessing resources needed in such an undertaking. In spite the long period of the crisis, the question of the manner the humanitarian action has to be carried out is still in being debated and is away from being resolved (El-Khatib et al.18). Hence, it is essential to try to come up with a satisfactory solution to be capable of making to include all the possible steps to offer adequate humanitarian aid in the opinion of the seriousness of the situation in the country.
Humanitarian direction seeks to focus on various humanitarian actors to make sure a comprehensible and organized intermediation to handle emergencies. The aim is to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention by making sure greater expectedness, answerability as well as the partnership to help the citizens when they most require protection and relief (Lama et al. 84). Nonetheless, the effort of these humanitarian organizations in the country has not been as active as one would accept them to be because of various issues that mostly the ones that hinder the direct and complete participation and activities of such international organization. Hence, the paper will analyze the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well as the role and effectiveness of the non-governmental organization in the country.
The refugee camps whether in the country or the neighboring countries tend to be to some extents easier for the humanitarian organizations, if not the victims of the crises themselves as witnessed in the case of the Syrian emergencies (Lama et al. 84). Therefore, having the displaced people in a centralized area helps the humanitarian organizations to keep track of the people that require help and efficiently address their particular requirements. However, this is not the situation concerning the Syrian crisis because of the various challenges that are posed by the actions of the militia as well as the restriction of the humanitarian efforts by the government. The aid organizations assist in the operations of camps in Jordan; however, there are no formalized camps in other neighboring countries such as Lebanon (Lama et al. 84). Moreover, the measures that are taken to limit the entrance of the refugee in such countries should be banned to ensure that the international non-governmental organization function in a way that best helps the victims to have the best living standards. The struggles or the challenges faced concerning the finding the right solution for the issue can be solved if the neighboring countries cooperate with the agencies. Once this is addressed, the international organizations such as the UN, Red Cross, and others will have a better chance to negotiate and be involved regarding the issue and produce the need solutions to end the crises. The U.S. Agency for International Development states that Jordan has hosted over 620,400 refugees and both Turkey and Lebanon hosts about 1.1 million Syrian citizens while Iraq hosts almost 229,000 and Egypt 138,000 Syrians. Nonetheless, the United Nations refugee organization has noted that such figures are based upon official records; however, the real populations in those camps could be even more significant because of the continuous flow of the victims of the Syrian crises. Given this situation, it would be vital that the international non-governmental organization get into these nations and provide the help and relief needed to sustain these people (Meier 1253). However, they have failed in the process because of the various hurdles provided the revolting movements in both the country and the neighboring ones.
Another thing is that the weather becomes colder in the winter in between October and April and the humanitarian organizations dealing with the Syrian crisis have the undertaking to deal with the challenge. Such challenges as anyone can examine or analyze not only based on the providence of food, sanitation, and water to the refugees and the victims; however, it should also include the attaining as well as the distribution of winter clothing, weather mattresses, and shelter. According to the situation in the country regarding the limitation of these groups working to the solutions to the problem, it renders the ineffective since they are unable to reach the refugees on time and in the right way (Lama et al. 90). Therefore, it is arguable that the severe weather conditions hit the victims and this makes the international humanitarian organization seem to be reluctant to efficient in their effort to combat the same. Nonetheless, it is crucial to understand that some of the humanitarian agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP), Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Oxfam International, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Action Against Hunger (AAH) have a hard time in dealing with the Syrian crisis because of the hurdles that are present. However, if given a chance and concerning their efforts so far, it is evident that when they are given a serene environment to deal with the issue, they can produce the best results in the country by their effort but the limitation regarding the attacks and oppositions from the Islamic State group and other groups (Doocy et al. 108).
The programs as well as the organizations help the communities but under unusual strain from the influx of the citizens since the refugees contribute to the finances of the economy via shopping in the local shops. The victims stress the health care arrangements in the neighboring nations, of which hardly have the structure to offer for their populace. The healthcare in the nation is practically missing since many doctors have left the country and their workstations because of the damages caused by the ongoing crises from the revolts and militia doings. Therefore, the implementation of the right initiatives in the camps is the most beneficial and practical way to assist the refugees in the country as well in the neighboring countries. Regarding the situation, I believe that the international humanitarian organizations should have backups regarding the security offered in the camps to enable easier distribution and access of the medical services offered by various governments and agencies and this will help the Syrians affected by the crisis. The financing of all the humanitarian groups and programs a specific for global aid infrastructures have been divided into several directions and this means that there are difficulties (Lyles et al. 14). For instance, in November, the World Food Program declared it was restricting its food voucher package for Syrian refugees because of the deficit in the budget. Such an undertaking reveals that most of the international humanitarian programs and organization are not very active because of the restriction of funds (Doocy et al. 108). Nonetheless, following a global campaign, the United Nations raised about $80 million by Dec. 9, that was adequate regarding the reinstatement of the program for the month and the following month. Therefore, one can argue that the effectiveness of these organizations, as well as the programs, are based on the level of hostility received in the country and; hence can be effective with little or no resistance in the process.
Therefore, regarding the situations in Syria, what the United Nations system has to do as humanitarians is to prioritize. Regrettably, the funding appeals are at only about 50%. The issue in Syria outstrips what most of the international organizations can do to assist in most of the cases that are because of the crises. However, the efforts by the agencies mostly under the United Nations try to make an effort even in the disparaging conditions in the country (Doocy et al. 108). Such as step is a bold one but the situation in the country is hard to deal with, and this hinders the effectiveness of the humanitarian organizations regarding the performance and the target goals that are set for helping the refugees (Doocy et al. 108). For example, in December, the United Nations issued its plea to handle the crisis in the country. The request of the organization from the donors to fund the Syria Strategic Response Plan to help 12.2 million individuals in the nation was $2.9 billion. Moreover, $5.5 billion was requested for the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan to handle the estimated 4.27 million individuals that can be hosted in the other bordering nations by the end of 2015. The United States of America government is the most abundant donor to the country’s humanitarian response, offering more than $3 billion aid in the country and the neighbors. However, the spending of the money on the crisis in 2012 concerning the situation in question led to the political as well as the humanitarian crises in Syria. Furthermore, the budget that was proposed by the Congress was estimated to be $1.9 billion to the global disaster help account that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that spends on crises across the globe (Lyles et al. 14). Moreover, struggling to choose where the precious dollars will be most influential, the international aid groups must also measure or calculate whether including other persons concerning a particular issue in the Syrian crises will just repeat what has been witnessed there regarding the other groups’ sayings and activities (Ticktin 269). The residents in many of the camps as well as those in seclusion in various places in the country wit to have food aid, which has been difficult regarding the attacks of the convoys from the international humanitarian organization aimed at assisting the people displaced with necessary livelihood resources.
However, some advocates including the senior advocate for the Middle East at Refugees, the humanitarian organizations in the country do not agree on the issue of funding from the UN and other governmental agencies. However, the staff taking this initiative is limited to offer the required services for the victims as well as educating the people regarding the negatives of being involved in such conflicts and issues that are mostly conflicts. The observation of many observers has shown that the Syrian crisis is one of the great examples of such situations.
Most of the non-governmental organizations are included, efficiently and heavily. I ought to say that it is significant for the agencies to be included since this gives the world the overview of what is on the ground and concentrate on the issues in more details (Ticktin 271). Therefore, individuals should not focus on the effectiveness of the funding that is obtainable or whether or not the international humanitarian organizations are putting the workers in danger by including the phrase like ‘Look, this response is imperfect.’ Just in the same case concerning the Refugees International, the USAID does not have staffs on the ground in the country (Asgary 389). The administration in Syria operates in collaboration with other organizations to direct assistance to where it is most required even as the crisis is still on. The primary difficulty or the challenge that is experienced by the humanitarian organizations, mainly the NGOs is the resistance from the armed opposition that has limited the access of the areas concerning the urgent requirement of aid since the Syrian regime blocks the NGOs as well as the United Nations System from addressing and handling their mandates (Asgary 402).
Conclusion
It is notable that the international humanitarian organization have been in the forefront in the fight against the Syrian crises by putting the welfare of the country’s refugees at the focus. However, the initiatives of these organizations have been limited because of many hurdles that are realized because of the government restrictions and the opposition militia groups in the country. Therefore, accessibility to the displaced persons is the most significant problem in Syria comprised of insecurity as well as generalized conflicts in the country that have run several years. Hence, at any given period, there could be some conflicts or fighting taking place any place in the country and the international humanitarian organization has to adjust their plans and structures to contain the situation in Syria. Moreover, the provision of the necessary resources that are required including what is termed as the WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) has been hindered by the ongoing conflicts in the country. The organization struggles will make the laws that are needed to register in the nation concerning the foreign countries that they wish to function. Moreover, the most significant challenge for the humanitarian organizations is the limitation as well as the governing of the same that are imposed by Syria in opposition to the front-line type insecurity. Therefore, various issues and the attempts of ending the conflict have caused the humanitarian crises in the country.
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