By Ana Maria Sarmento
During the month of December 2014, the European Parliament (EP) has been discussing the critical situation of the Syrian refugees accepted by its neighbouring countries. Both in Committee on Foreign Affairs hearings as in several conferences, the EP has debated some solutions the European Union (EU) could develop to support these refugees, as well as the countries who host them.
Fleeing from the war, the Syrian refugees are being hosted by neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in the early 2011, 6.5 million of people have been internally displaced in Syria and a total of 10.8 million people have been affected inside of the country, according to latest statistics of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). So far, 3.2 million of Syrians have been registered as refugees in Syria's neighbouring countries. These numbers are overwhelming and they demonstrate clearly the enormous crisis that Syria and the region are facing.
By Silvia Tovar
What is innovation?
Innovation was the main issue discussed in AidEx, event held on 12th and 13th of November in Brussels that gathers, once a year since 2010, professionals in aid delivery and development assistance. The participants, coming from donor agencies, NGOs, private enterprises and suppliers of essential aid equipment, had a unique opportunity to work together on improving aid delivery.
But, why innovation? Humanitarian aid and cooperation for development face continuously challenges to respond to emergencies and to achieve social changes in complex situations. Since the 90s, many have criticized its lack of effectiveness and results in the assistance to other countries or people in need. The “donor fatigue” is also appeared as a result of a decrease of funds for aid in individual and country-level donors. In this situation, some believe that being more innovative may improve the humanitarian and development work. Now, even donors include innovation as eligibility criteria for funds. Everyone seems to be concerned about innovation yet, is it clear what does it mean? The participants of AidEx could learn some features from the different conferences held during the event.
