The countries most affected by the Syria crisis such as Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq continue to face significant socio-economic and political challenges, including poverty, unemployment, and forced displacement, in addition to emerging crises. Despite these difficulties, these countries continue to host millions of forcibly displaced people, with over 14 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the sub-region, including 6.8 million Syrian refugees. Finding appropriate development solutions to forced displacement remains a challenge for all stakeholders due to an unconducive enabling environment and the inability of displaced individuals to rebuild their lives.

The event will involve 1) A review of three UNDP adaptive solutions case studies in the sub region, and 2) Best practices and lessons learned from the IsDB-funded initiative implemented by SPARK "Syrian Refugees and IDPs Skills Training Education Program" (STEP).

Objectives

1. Disseminating UNDP’s development approach to displacement solutions including through a presentation of three pilot initiatives undertaken by UNDP Country Offices as part of the adaptive solutions approach as well as IsDB’s experience in supporting refugees and IDPs in its member countries;
2. Providing an opportunity to collectively discuss, review and share experiences on improving development pathways to address the challenges of displacement in a sustainable manner.

Target Audience

The targets are humanitarian, development and peace partners including civil society, non-governmental organizations, other UN agencies and donor governments. 

Co-Chairs

• Sarah Poole, UNDP Deputy Director, RBAS.
• Abdimajid Moalin Abdullahi, Fragility & Resilience Manager, IsDB.

Speakers

• Abdallah Al-Lahham, Coordinator, Sub-regional Response Facility for the Syria Crisis.
• Elina Silen, Senior Inter-Agency Coordinator, UNDP Lebanon.
• Philippe Clerc, Resilience Advisor, UNDP Turkiye.
• Nabeel Alfayoumi, Managing Director of the Digiskills Association, Jordan.
• Yannick Du Pont, Founder and CEO of SPARK.
• Ms. Dajani, Director of Programs and Partnerships, Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.