Research for Health System Strengthening in northern Syria (R4HSSS), Union for Medical and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), Gaziantep, Turkey
LSE IDEAS Conflict and Civicness Research Group, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
BMJ Glob Health. 2024 Oct 21;9(10):e014687. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014687.
Aid harmonisation is a key component of donor efforts to make aid more effective by improving coordination and simplifying and sharing information to avoid duplication. This study evaluates the harmonisation of health and humanitarian aid in Syria during acute humanitarian and health crises from 2011 to 2019.
Data on humanitarian and health aid for Syria between 2011 and 2019 was collected from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Creditor Reporting System to assess the harmonisation of aid. The data was linked to four key indicators of the conflict: the number of internally displaced persons; the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance; the number or frequency of internal movements (displacements) by individuals; and the decline in Syria's population between 2011 and 2019. This was compared with data from highly fragile states and developing countries. Four focus group discussions, four key informants' interviews and three consultations with humanitarian practitioners were also conducted.
The findings suggest that overall aid harmonisation did not occur and importantly did not correlate with increased humanitarian needs. During the first 5 years, humanitarian and health pooled funds (which endorse aid harmonisation) in Syria were nearly entirely absent, far less than those in developing countries and highly fragile states. However, from 2016 to 2019, a visible surge in humanitarian pooled funds indicated an increase in the harmonisation of donors' efforts largely influenced by adopting the Whole of Syria approach in 2015 as a positive result of the cross-border United Nation (UN) Security Council resolution in 2014.
Harmonisation of aid within the Syrian crisis was found to have little correlation with the crisis parameters and population needs, instead aligning more with donor policies. Assessing fragmentation solely at the donor level is also insufficient. Aid effectiveness should be assessed with the inclusion of community engagement and aid beneficiary perspectives. Harmonisation mechanisms must be disentangled from international politics to improve aid effectiveness. In Syria, this study calls for finding and supporting alternative humanitarian coordination and funding mechanisms that are not dependent on the persistent limitations of the UN Security Council.
援助协调是捐助方努力提高援助效果的关键组成部分，其通过改善协调以及简化和共享信息来避免重复，从而实现这一目标。本研究评估了 2011 年至 2019 年叙利亚在急性人道主义和卫生危机期间卫生和人道主义援助的协调情况。
本研究从经济合作与发展组织的债权国报告系统收集了 2011 年至 2019 年期间用于叙利亚的人道主义和卫生援助数据，以评估援助的协调情况。该数据与冲突的四个关键指标相关联：境内流离失所者人数；需要人道主义援助的人数；个人内部流动（流离失所）的次数或频率；以及 2011 年至 2019 年期间叙利亚人口的下降情况。这与高度脆弱国家和发展中国家的数据进行了比较。此外，还进行了四次焦点小组讨论、四次关键知情人访谈和三次与人道主义工作者的磋商。
研究结果表明，总体而言，援助协调并未发生，而且重要的是，援助协调与人道主义需求的增加没有相关性。在最初的 5 年中，叙利亚的人道主义和卫生联合资金（支持援助协调）几乎完全不存在，远远少于发展中国家和高度脆弱国家。然而，从 2016 年至 2019 年，人道主义联合资金的显著增长表明，捐助方努力的协调程度有所提高，这主要是由于 2015 年采用了全叙利亚方法，这是 2014 年联合国安全理事会跨界决议的一个积极结果。
在叙利亚危机中，援助协调与危机参数和人口需求相关性较小，而与捐助方政策的相关性更大。仅在捐助方一级评估碎片化也是不够的。应该从社区参与和援助受益人的角度评估援助的有效性。为了提高援助效果，必须将协调机制与国际政治分开。在叙利亚，本研究呼吁寻找和支持替代人道主义协调和供资机制，这些机制不依赖于联合国安全理事会持续存在的限制。
