Building Human Capacity For The Future Generations In Syria

The Syrian crisis have devastated the whole country resulting in the deterioration of basic living conditions of all Syrians. Beyond violence and insecurity as a result of the hostilities, people inside Syria face multiple human insecurities. An estimated 5.6 million refugees fled Syria to neighbouring countries. 6.6 million are internally displaced. At least 13.1 million Syrians are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. In the last 12 months alone, 13.1 million Syrians were displacements from affected areas of northern and southern Syria. More than 86% of the population lives in poverty due to the crisis, with an increased rate of 57% unemployment. The World Bank in 2017 estimated that 27 percent of the housing stock in 10 major cities have been destroyed or partially damaged.Human capital is also severely affected with an increased death toll, injuries, disabilities and brain drain. Furthermore, the social fabric of the country has severely damaged by the protracted conflict. The society is divided by multiple lines and the protracted nature of the conflict deepened and widened fissures in the social fabric. The crisis has resulted in the serious decline of all institutions. As a result, people’s access to essential basic and social services and infrastructure including water, electricity, health and education has dramatically reduced.The industrial sector has been particularly affected by the loss in its infrastructure and human capital, which is severally undermining the sector’s potential to generate jobs and livelihood opportunities for large portions of the Syrian populations. The on-going crisis in Syria has also caused severe damage to the agriculture sector in the country. Agriculture and the livelihoods that depend on it have suffered massive losses. Today, food production is at a record low and around half the population remaining in Syria are unable to meet their daily food needs. FAO 2017 Comprehensive Damage and Needs Assessment (CDNA) found that USD 16 billion has been lost in terms of production, along with damaged and destroyed assets and infrastructure within the agriculture sector. The magnitude of over seven years of crisis has inflicted a huge impact not only on the agriculture production systems but also on the human resources on which the sector relies. For example, the research and extension fields have lost about 60% of their qualified staff, affecting their ability to provide the technical support for farmers, particularly under the challenging conditions of the crisis and climate change (drought).During the course of the crisis, Syrian human and institutional capacity has significantly declined. If this issue remains unaddressed, the capacity of the Syrians and their institutions to address people’s immediate humanitarian needs and deliver essential services (electricity, health, water and others) will be seriously affected. Since the onset of the crisis, training/learning opportunities have been limited and many working people have become unemployed creating a significant deficiency in human capital, and therefore pressing needs, in skills development in various segments of the population. This is particularly the case for young people who tend to be more vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. This project, through providing youth with opportunities for positive and productive engagement with community and society, will contribute to the prevention of violent extremism.In this context, providing emergency humanitarian assistance alone can no longer sustain resilience of Syrian people. More innovative approaches are needed not only to improve the living conditions and livelihoods of the affected individuals and communities but also to sustain human capacity and vital institutions in Syria for the recovery from the crisis when it becomes feasible.