Decent work key to resilience of Syrians and host communities

BRUSSELS (ILO News) – Displaced persons and other vulnerable people inside Syria, as well as Syrian refugees and the local communities that host them in neighbouring countries, need concrete decent work opportunities and job-rich resilience building, the ILO said at a major international conference a few months after re-establishing its presence on the ground inside Syria.

The ILO’s approach to supporting vulnerable and displaced people in Syria and neighbouring countries centres on working to generate a potent mix of short-term concrete jobs, and mid to longer-term capacity building opportunities and social protections. Together, these lift communities from situations of vulnerability to resilience, said ILO Deputy Regional Director for Arab States Peter Rademaker.

“Through work, people can gain confidence and resilience,” Rademaker said at the Brussels VII Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region. “The ILO’s added value lies in providing concrete decent work opportunities as well as facilitating the transition from humanitarian cash assistance to employment based-social security, and the establishment of more inclusive and shock responsive national social protection systems,” he said.

The ILO has recently re-established its physical presence inside Syria, and is stepping up activities in close cooperation with the UN family and ILO-affiliated employers’ and workers’ organizations. ILO work in Syria focuses on adding decent work and employment expertise to ongoing humanitarian and early-recovery interventions by UN partners. Since February, the ILO has also contributed to the earthquake response in Türkiye and Syria, with efforts focused on restoring the livelihoods and jobs of affected communities.

Future labour market interventions by the international community inside Syria could involve equipping people with the certified skills that will be in demand in the future inside Syria.

“This requires a good understanding of the Syrian labour market and of private-sector employment perspectives. Resilience assistance interventions, especially at the local level, should focus on evidence-based and job-rich interventions, moving people from assistance to income whenever possible,” Rademaker said.

In countries neighbouring Syria, the ILO has based its work on these principles since the early days of the refugee crisis through multiple employment-focused interventions which build the resilience of refugees and host communities and facilitate their access to formal employment and livelihood opportunities.

It is important to acknowledge the contribution that working refugees can make to local economies in countries neighbouring Syria, Rademaker added at the conference, even as refugee access to labour markets comes increasingly under strain. He pointed especially to the employment-intensive investment programmes the ILO operates in Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, Iraq and Egypt.

“Employment-intensive investment programmes provide income to vulnerable groups while creating or rehabilitating durable assets that benefit host communities in the long-run. Income from work is largely spent in local economies. The assistance programmes tend to benefit both refugees and host communities,” Rademaker noted.

Twelve years after the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, millions of Syrians continue to take refuge in neighbouring countries and beyond, while millions more remain displaced inside Syria. Many lack livelihoods and face numerous challenges to accessing employment, including legal, economic and social barriers. For many, their only income is from the informal economy, where poor working conditions prevail. Humanitarian assistance, on the other hand, is coming under increased pressure.

Rademaker stressed to delegates at the conference: “People are resourceful and entrepreneurial, keen and eager to work, to create their own opportunities. Young people especially, when equipped with the right skills and support, have shown an ability to create their own jobs.”

“The ILO believes that the priority must be to promote decent work and social justice, as essential ingredients in the assistance extended to Syrians and to their host communities.”

The full ILO statement to the Brussels VII Conference is available here.