I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chair, and the distinguished members of the committee, for the invitation to speak to you today about the situation in Syria and in the region.
I am going to make my presentation in English, but I can answer questions in French.
I returned from Lebanon and Jordan on the weekend so the situation is very fresh in mind, and I'll speak to some of the key issues that I observed during my visit as well as some of the issues we've been monitoring over the last three years.
As Conrad noted, currently some 9.5 million people inside Syria are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and some 2.4 million more refugees are now displaced into neighbouring countries. Over 130,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed since the start of the conflict with millions more deprived of basic services, livelihoods, safety, and security. The Syrian crisis represents the largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis of its kind in recent years with refugee numbers surpassing those at the peak of the Rwandan genocide. In the face of these staggering numbers we have a collective duty to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of those affected.
CARE is a non-governmental organization working across humanitarian assistance, recovery, and development in 80 countries with a focus on women's empowerment and gender equality. CARE's response to the Syria crisis has reached more than 356,000 beneficiaries in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. We're focusing on supporting both host communities and refugees living in urban and rural areas, by providing cash assistance, water hygiene and sanitation support, shelter, food aid, and psychosocial assistance.
Last year, CARE, along with other members of Canada's Humanitarian Coalition, launched a joint appeal that raised approximately half a million dollars. While Canadians who responded to our appeal were very generous, the number of Canadians who made donations was significantly lower than what we see in cases of crises caused by natural disasters. Experience has taught us to expect this discrepancy but it means that the responsibility for financing the humanitarian response will continue to lie heavily on government. To date, CARE has benefited from the generous support of the Government of Canada in support of our operations in the region for a total of $5.2 million, and we are incredibly grateful for this support that allows us to respond to the refugee needs in the region.
I'll speak to three key issues for your urgent attention, and they are: first, the situation of refugees in urban areas and their host communities; second, the importance of self-reliance and livelihoods for Syrian refugees; and third, the specific needs of women and girls affected by this crisis.
To begin, an estimated 83% of Syrian refugees are currently living outside of refugee camps, dispersed across cities and smaller communities throughout the region and mostly living in host communities. In Lebanon, more than 800,000 refugees are now registered with the UNHCR. With a total population of some four million people, this represents a huge number of refugees and is placing important pressure on basic services, schools, rental accommodation, and even the local economy.
In neighbouring Jordan, they now host close to 600,000 registered refugees, representing 10% of the total population. In some areas, refugees represent as much as 50% of the local community. For example, last week I was in Mafraq in northern Jordan where CARE is providing urgent humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees and their host communities with Government of Canada support. CARE staff told me that the city had a population of 85,000 people before the crisis and now hosts more than 85,000 refugees. As you can imagine, this is causing rent to skyrocket. It's putting pressure on local schools, water, sewage, waste management, and even on low-skilled jobs in the informal economy. Many schools are now reporting class sizes of 50 students per class even where schools have introduced a second shift for Syrian refugees.
Recognizing this important dynamic, CARE is not only providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, but is also supporting host communities in Jordan and Lebanon. In Jordan, some 30% of our programming targets vulnerable Jordanians from the host community who are also impacted by this emergency. Continued funding in support of humanitarian efforts assisting both refugees and their host communities will be fundamental to ensuring Syrians continue to have access to asylum and protection in the region.
Second, life-saving humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees continues to be urgently needed with only 13% of the regional refugee response plan funded to date. This has left significant unmet needs across the region.
We must recognize that this crisis is protracted and that refugees are unlikely to be able to return home in safety and with dignity in the near future. To this end we must continue to ensure sufficient funding is made available to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable with continued support for NGOs, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and UN agencies.
During my recent visit to Lebanon and Jordan, I met countless families who had lost everything. One mother told me that when they left Syria they thought they would only be in Jordan for a few weeks. Now, two years later, she says she's not sure if she'll ever be able to go home. She's depleted all of her savings, and without a source of income her family is unable to meet their basic needs from one day to the next.
Many families indicated that they're sending young children between the ages of 12 and 16 into the streets in search of informal work in the informal economy in order to meet household needs. With some 65% of children out of school in Jordan alone, the conflict is in the process of compromising the future and prosperity of an entire generation.
Recognizing these challenges, CARE believes that we must ensure that our interventions are increasingly focused on promoting livelihoods, education, and training. The goal is to empower those affected by the crisis and ensure that families continue to develop and maintain skills while in exile to prepare them for solutions, be it voluntary return, be it resettlement to third countries like Canada, or be it local integration where they currently live. This will need to take place alongside programs to address the concerns of host communities regarding the impact of refugees on the local labour market and the local economy.
Finally, I'd like to speak to the specific needs of women and girls affected by this crisis who are often at particular risk due to family separation, lack of basic structural and social protections, and limited availability of safe access to services.
There is a tendency to think that once a woman has crossed a border she is now safe. However, women often face a different kind of violence once they become refugees. CARE has noted with particular concern that families are reporting an increase in the early marriage of girls, which is being used as a coping mechanism by families with the hope of better protecting girls in the absence of male family members, or with the view to lessening the financial burden on the household.
Families are also increasingly keeping girls out of school due to the perceived risks involved in travelling to school and the need for girls to help with household duties at home.
Single female-headed households reportedly struggle to find rental accommodation as landlords are reluctant to rent to an unaccompanied woman because she is perceived to be unable to pay the rent.
Other refugee women have indicated that with increasing financial pressure, unemployment, lack of livelihood opportunities, and pressure on male heads of family, they are facing increased intimate partner violence at home.
In addition, women and girls have specific needs that are not always well addressed by traditional humanitarian assistance. With the view to meeting these specific needs of women and girls, CARE is distributing hygiene kits to women and girls, which include sanitary materials and diapers for babies under the age of two.
During my recent visit, I met women who were collecting these kits, often with a newborn baby on their hip and a small child in tow. They emphasized how important diapers were, as they can be an unaffordable luxury under the current circumstances.
To conclude, as the third-year anniversary of the Syrian conflict approaches, we must recognize that this is a protracted crisis and we need to start thinking about durable solutions for refugees, for their host communities, and for those trapped inside Syria. No one organization can meet the massive needs alone. We will need to work together as NGOs, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, donors, host governments, and UN agencies if we're going to be able to meet the basic and urgent needs of the rising number of refugees.
Thank you.