Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government's priorities are for the Syria Donor Conference in February 2016.

The core priority of the “Supporting Syria and the Region (London 2016)” Conference is to raise significant new funding to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of all those affected by the crisis within Syria and to support neighbouring countries who have shown enormous generosity in hosting refugees. Both emergency 2016 funding and longer term funding in subsequent years are needed given the protracted nature of the conflict.

The Conference must also address the longer-term needs of those affected by the crisis through supporting the creation of jobs and providing education, offering those that have been forced to flee their homes greater hope for the future.

The Conference should maintain pressure on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and respect International Humanitarian Law, highlighting the deliberate and systematic abuses that continue to perpetuate the humanitarian crisis. Looking ahead, it will need to ensure the international community is well prepared to support a coordinated stabilisation effort.