Syria Crisis
Syrians and the communities that host them urgently need immediate decent jobs
Statement by ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Arab States Dr. Ruba Jaradat to the Sixth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region”
9 May 2022
Brussels (ILO) - "As new crises engulf parts of the world, the plight of the Syrian people continues. Both inside their own country and in the neighbouring countries that continue to generously host millions of refugees. This Brussels conference brings Syria and the region back in focus and that is essential.
People, countries and governments in the region have just begun envisaging a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, picking up work again and seeking to make up for lost ground. The ILO tracked the impact of COVID-19 in terms of working hours lost in the five countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region, which amounted to the equivalent of 3.5 million full-time jobs by the end of 2021. Workers in informal employment and those lacking social security coverage have been among the hardest hit in terms of job and income losses.
The recent surge in food, fuel and fertiliser costs pose important and immediate new challenges to the region. Livelihoods and jobs for refugees and host communities alike are even further under stress. Informality and precarity are, more often than not, the plight of young workers and women, especially refugees.
The burden for neighbouring countries continues to be significant, with the challenges flowing from the war in Ukraine and severe strains on public budgets, support for refugees is wearing thin.
As part of the UN, the ILO and its partners have been implementing programmes that promote gainful employment, that build employable skills and that make micro and small enterprises more resilient. The focus had been on moving towards sustainable models. Inside Syria, women and men need policies that will create decent jobs, and that will invest in productive sectors, especially agriculture, the green and care economies and the digital sector. In neighbouring countries, both Syrian refugees and the communities that host them need access to education, skills development, formal jobs, entrepreneurship and finance.
Today, however, promoting sustainable Decent Work opportunities needs to be complemented again by immediate temporary job and income creation. Progress on the Nexus is on hold.
The ILO believes that efficient public employment programmes that provide value for money remain an important avenue to create much-needed immediate jobs. This goes far beyond cash for work schemes: it means building the capacity of local contractor companies to bid for and deliver labour-intensive and quality productive and public infrastructure. It means building and certifying the skills of workers in the process so that they increase their future employability, wherever they may be. It means enrolling them in social protection schemes.
This is needed inside Syria, as well as in neighbouring countries where refugees and host communities can work side by side. Today we must persevere in helping people secure their livelihoods no matter where they reside. We need to create immediate, urgently-needed decent jobs for Syrians and their host communities, while long-term solutions continue to be explored.
Host communities and refugees need our solidarity - and our action - to support a human-centred recovery and a future with decent jobs for the people of Syria and its neighbours."
People, countries and governments in the region have just begun envisaging a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, picking up work again and seeking to make up for lost ground. The ILO tracked the impact of COVID-19 in terms of working hours lost in the five countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region, which amounted to the equivalent of 3.5 million full-time jobs by the end of 2021. Workers in informal employment and those lacking social security coverage have been among the hardest hit in terms of job and income losses.
The recent surge in food, fuel and fertiliser costs pose important and immediate new challenges to the region. Livelihoods and jobs for refugees and host communities alike are even further under stress. Informality and precarity are, more often than not, the plight of young workers and women, especially refugees.
The burden for neighbouring countries continues to be significant, with the challenges flowing from the war in Ukraine and severe strains on public budgets, support for refugees is wearing thin.
As part of the UN, the ILO and its partners have been implementing programmes that promote gainful employment, that build employable skills and that make micro and small enterprises more resilient. The focus had been on moving towards sustainable models. Inside Syria, women and men need policies that will create decent jobs, and that will invest in productive sectors, especially agriculture, the green and care economies and the digital sector. In neighbouring countries, both Syrian refugees and the communities that host them need access to education, skills development, formal jobs, entrepreneurship and finance.
Today, however, promoting sustainable Decent Work opportunities needs to be complemented again by immediate temporary job and income creation. Progress on the Nexus is on hold.
The ILO believes that efficient public employment programmes that provide value for money remain an important avenue to create much-needed immediate jobs. This goes far beyond cash for work schemes: it means building the capacity of local contractor companies to bid for and deliver labour-intensive and quality productive and public infrastructure. It means building and certifying the skills of workers in the process so that they increase their future employability, wherever they may be. It means enrolling them in social protection schemes.
This is needed inside Syria, as well as in neighbouring countries where refugees and host communities can work side by side. Today we must persevere in helping people secure their livelihoods no matter where they reside. We need to create immediate, urgently-needed decent jobs for Syrians and their host communities, while long-term solutions continue to be explored.
Host communities and refugees need our solidarity - and our action - to support a human-centred recovery and a future with decent jobs for the people of Syria and its neighbours."