Syria crisis response – paving the way for conflict-sensitive humanitarian action

Last week Saferworld delivered three trainings on conflict-sensitive humanitarian action to Save the Children staff and their partners, working with vulnerable young people between the ages of 9 and 18 in Syria and Lebanon. The workshops are part of a new three-year collaboration between the two organisations, looking at how conflict and humanitarian action interact. 

This new project aims to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action in conflict settings. We are focusing on Save the Children’s work with vulnerable adolescents impacted by the Syrian refugee crisis. They are a priority for both our organisations because they are often left out of humanitarian responses, caught between action that targets children or adults, and because they are exposed to specific risks during conflict as they transition in their lives from childhood to adult responsibilities. For example, young people in this age group are often marginalised in decision-making; characterised as a security threat and treated harshly by authorities as a result; and they often engage in risky activities – including early marriage and working in unsafe labour conditions – giving up on formal education to help their families survive crises.    

Saferworld staff travelled around the Middle East providing intensive workshops to over 50 Save the Children and partner staff, in English and Arabic. The teams carried out in-depth analyses of conflict factors, learnt to use new conflict analysis tools, and worked to understand how their analyses might shape different programme decisions. In the weeks and months following the workshops, this group will design and begin to implement specific projects to support other young people in different areas of Syria and Lebanon.

Saferworld and Save the Children are recording lessons learnt about conflict sensitive humanitarian action as the programme unfolds. These will be shared with the wider humanitarian community to inform discussions about how best to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action in conflict-affected areas. 

If you’d like to know more, please contact Monica Stephen through communications@saferworld.org.uk.