4 Years in to the Syria Conflict, How Are We Handling the Biggest Humanitarian Crisis of Our Time?

The civil war in Syria has left more than 210,000 dead and 10 million displaced. “Aid agencies are running refugee camps, clinics and education programmes that reach millions of people,” writes Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children for the New Statesman. “But the ability of the humanitarian system to reach everyone who needs assistance in Syria is in question. The war has exposed the cracks in an over-burdened, often inflexible system.” Charities and NGOs criticize the UN Security Council for failing to enforce resolutions for stopping attacks on civilians and allowing distribution of humanitarian aid. Forsyth argues the system is in need of reform and urges coalitions of governments and NGOs, new strategies for reaching remote and hard-to-reach locations, shared funding burdens among countries as well as shifting power from donors to recipients. Such strategies seem narrow in light of an expanding global population, rising inequality, a decline in resources as basic as water amid so many longstanding conflicts. Still, the immediate humanitarian crisis could destabilize neighboring states. – YaleGlobal