The humanitarian agenda is a project that seeks to leverage the expertise of our scholars and programs to shine a light on the pressing humanitarian issues and offer policy solutions. Before we begin, i would like to direct everyones attention to emergency exits and encourage you to turn your phones to mute. I want to acknowledge before we begin the partnership that our program has at the u. S. Agency of International Development office of disastrous assistance to put on discussions. We have a short time today. All of us here today are aware of the suffering taking place in syria. Family and individuals have been forced into forced displacements and attacks on civilians and hospitals and clinics which challenge our notions of this violence increased the urgency of finding Durable Solutions to the humanitarian problems. While we are very grateful to our speaker today for joining us and hosting and having this event today, i find it deeply distressing and disappointing that we continue to be hosting events on the same topic highlighting the same challenges and we continue to find ourselves asking what we can do. And without further ado, i turn it over to one of our regular partners. E Senior Vice President on Global Security and is the director of the middle east program here and he will introduce our speaker here today. [applause] thank you very much, jake and thanks to the humanitarian agenda and usaid support for these kinds of programs. The horrors playing for those who wish to know them. Almost a Million People are stranded along a border and trapped between armies. In the provinces has doubled its population since war broke out and syrians sought refuge. Three million syrians are suffering from cold and lacking water, sanitation and medical care. This has been occurringous the republic not because it is unnoticeable but because the public is uninterested. Coronavirus and president ial campaign and shaky economy, the United States and elsewhere the crisis gets little attention. Thats what brings us here. Nd we are here to speak to a forceful humanitarian Whose Organization has been doing tremendous work to try to relieve some of the suffering. David is president and c. E. O. Of the International Rescue community where he oversees the humanitarian relief operations countries in cted over 20 u. S. Cities. Under his leadership, it has rapidly responded to humanitarian cries sees and meet the needs of unprecedented number of people uprooted by conflict, war and we are bringing clear outcomes and strong evidence and system atlantaic research to the humanitarian programs through Collaborative Partnerships through the public and private sectors. He did other important work from 2007 to 2010, he was the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom and graduated from oxford in 1997 with first class honors agree in p. P. E. And got a masters in Political Science from m. I. T. , which he attended as a kennedy scholar. His accomplishments have earned him a reputation and former clintons words as one of the ablest most creative Public Servants and advocate for the uprooted and poor people. I am pleased to introduce to ban. Mr. David mil also for the absence of the United States is a real and present danger not just to humanitarian need, but also to wider regional stability. My purpose in making this speech today is in part to bring the humanitarian reality of to speak for our staff and the people they serve in the hope that there is still room for humanity and principle. There are few countries with the u. S. Is one of them. So i hope there is ress nance in what i describe today as well as brainstorming amongst all of us here in the conversation after my speech about what to do about it. As well as bringing the situation today, i want to make a wider argument and this is the wider argument that i will try to make. The war in syria is not just a disaster. Its an argument that the war in yria will dangerously become a biword a precedent of a new normal of Brutal Company contagious conflict. Stalling of diplomacy, the u. N. Pulled from pillar to post, the aid system inadequate. Neighboring states creeking under the sustains of refugees. Western policy be feudled by a mixture of disfunction, denial. That is the reality of the syrian story that jake referred to and the danger is that it becomes copied elsewhere. Heres what im going to do today. Summarize the Current Situation in syria. Second, splin how we see syria as a warning of the changing nature of conflict around the world today. Third, set out shortterm imperatives how to save lives today and fourth, draw wider lessons for hurens and diplomats. I think we all know that the assault is intended by the Syrian Government to represent e grim climb action of the nineyearlong civil war. 400,000 ave fled and are joining them. The largest displacement since the war started nine years ago. There are debates over nine years, but this is the largest displacement reflecting the most fighting. Every single day, another 11,000 civilians join hundreds of thousands of civilians on the run. Staff who ocal our attempt to preserve their own work as well as their own families as they do so. 80 on the run are women and children, many are in the cold braving freezing rain and snow, which has led to the deaths of seven children in the last months. Deaths from freezing. Attacks on Health Facilities represent some of the mosts griegeous war crimes and taking place despite u. N. Security resolutions. In the past three weeks alone, organizations have had to suspend operations in a number of Health Facilities and relocate an entire fleet of ambulances because they were being attacked. More than 80 facilities have now been closed. Its also the case that the situation has deteriorated so far that all of the u. S. Based n. G. O. s have come together in the humanitarian alliance to launch the second ever joint appeal to raise funds for deployment inside. The fact that the exodus is the greatest since the war began, its testimony to fighting there. I dont think it should obscure there are risks in other parts of the country, too. In the northeast of the country, 70,000 people are still dispoliced and the region is still recovering from the turkish offensive fighting against the kurdish forces. Last month, a u. S. Convoy exchanged fire with a pro checkpoint. The Islamic State has been damaged but not vanching issued. The Group Remains a persistent threat carrying out shootings east of the river and temporarily cop turring villages. In areas previously of opposition control which has been taken by the syrian military, we know from our own staff that the end of formal fighting has not led to an end to violence or improvement to he civilian situation. Are on track to enter this fiscal year. Thats what the reduction in the Refugee Resettlement program has been for the syrians. The government has made no secret that syrians who have fled to neighboring countries as refugees are not welcomed back. They have leveled charges meaning risk imprisonment and torture and used the law 10 to appropriate and redevelop land that once belonged to displaced refugees. Finally, the conduct of the war will make reconstruction attempts to create some sense of abnormality all but impossible. 9 of the syrian population are served by waste Water Treatment plants and some facilities are not functional with one in three schools damaged or destroyed. This is a decadelong trauma that is going to affect future generations as well as the current one. The broader point that i think is really point. The catastrophe and the wider and this is the third thing, how we should understand the situation in syria today as symptom matic of a wider what i call age of impunity. The steve and the wider consequences are symptoms of utter failure of diplomacy. Ut it also foreshadows an even darker trend towards impunity and disregard for the rule of International Law and equally grave deficit of international diplomacy, which allows the suffering of civilians to continue unabated. The brutal takes the air strikes and recruitment of child oldiers, use of public beheadings. These crimes are bad enough. But accountability has so far been all but nonexist ant. The majority of the blame lies highthe allied as the u. N. Commission for human rights pointed out 300 civilian deaths were caused by the Syrian Government and its foreign allies. In the process of so blatantly violating the war, they have spurred a race to the bottom and gives me no pleasure to take it back, the u. S. Led operation destroyed 11 million buildings and no responsibility for reconstruction. This could undermine calls from restraint from Russian Forces in italy. I believe what we are seeing in syria is not unique and foreshadows a dangerous trend where the laws of war have carefully built up have become optional. I think its important to understand what the drivers are of this age of impunity and put to you there are four. First, war is now increasingly urban so the disstimpingon is eroded. The war in syria has displaced more than 11 people. Heres an interesting thing, according to carnegie, since 1945 an afpblg of five people were displaced for every one person killed in conflict. Ratio a that fivetoone is 251. The battlefield is filled by nonstate actors like extremist roups like islamic and the u. S. Backed syrian backed forces from turkey and u. S. The involvement of so many groups, more than 100 in syria location and event data project has fractured the battlefield given the often unclear chain of command within each of these groups. Furthermore, and heres the point, its not just ill get to the point. Third point, the large presence of foreign militaries has made the war far deadlier for civilians due to the increased fire power. As demonstrated by the widespread russian air strikes. It is not just the imbalance of Foreign Forces in syria but the mere presence of them. In total, 70 countries contribute conflicts in other countries. So the syria phenomenon does not stand alone but increasingly common elsewhere. Ink about somalia, issuing and the fourth age of this drive of impunity needs to be talked about. Its an obvious point dramentized in this years munich munich conference. It was called westlessness. It takes a german speaker to ind a way of encapsulating the auma or the dysfunction of westlessness. The absence of the west is not only a military question outside the northwest of the country. Syria is low, very low on the western diplomatic priority list and Foreign Policy is very low on the political priority list. N fact, fear of entanglement outweighs commit mountains to all the suffering and the roots of its absence are the results of lingering effects of the financial crisis. When they are and sebt, those who regard those rights are given free rein and that is what we are seeing. Syria is the poster child of the age of impunity, if you look at civilian deaths, if you look at killing of aid workers, if you look at a range of indicators of children caught up in conflict, syria is not an outliar but part of a trend. Or eads to the concluding the prescriptive part of my remarks. I want to talk about shortterm relief and come onto the wider lessons. The immediate need in syria is a ceasefire and increase to civilians in need. There is no chance of this happening and little point in people calling for it without a strategic decision in washington and european capitals that syria matters enough to require all the costs that come with engagement of any kind. Since im running a humanitarian n. G. O. , i have to steer away from the military side of these questions other than saying that all military decisions should be taken with a view to military consequences. Even short of the military questions, once a decision is taken that engagement is right, there are ways to increase the costs on those who are perpetrating crimes on the battlefield. For example, instead of u. N. Member states and u. N. First expecting each other to address the crisis, both need to step up. And moscow andis new york. The Security Council itself in my sue should be meeting at the ministerial level. It shall convene in ministerial which the commission of inquiry briefs members and requires them to account for the human rights abuses that are taking place in syria. There needs to be engagement with the serious of the situation. A meeting was planned and seems to be off between chancellor merkel and president s in the next few days and seems to be a bilateral putin andered juan meeting. Where is the u. S. In that story . Also, the widening of aid corridors and crossboard aid and reopening of the cross border in east. Two were closed in january. And another two will be closed in july. Make no mistake, the humanitarian situation could deteriorate much further. Further, we need accountability for crimes committed following up on each of the media reports that contain such chilling footage. It is surprising to see there are no e. U. Sanctions on russia. Accountability needs to start with the report of the board of inquiry into attacks on civilian infrastructure due to report next week. The inquiry is a litmus test for meaningful accountability and judge the report. It should remain perpetrator and findings must remain public. Finally, the Multi Lateral framework for political talks that has been elbowed aside, thats russia, turkey, iran and syria is essential. The participants are not providing protection or improve the humanitarian situation in the country. The fact that there is something called a u. N. Process shouldnt anyone to think that it exercises real leverage. There wont be a solution until that changes. Now in addition to these shortterm measures which are my daytoday concern, i think it is incumbent me to discuss a far more far going set of issues that are raised by the conflict n syria as the danger it por tends. It is important to have some humility. Hindsight is 2020 and never a clear or obvious path to resolving the war and preventing civilian suffering. But some things are obvious and actually pointed out by people at the time. For example, assad must go is not a strategy. Neither is keep the oil. Red lines are not red unless they are enforced. Counterterrorism is a bandaid, not a solution. Other things though, other lessons are more complicated and more difficult. And for the benefit of the discussion, i want to highlight four lessons that i think are serious because syria doesnt represent an outliar but a trend. The first that humanitarian law will become optional unless it receives a surge of support. I want to quote from russia, u. N. General assembly, he said attacks on International Law are looming large. Many will see some irony in this given the situation in syria. He called out what he sees as an american fill os question of quote, i do as i please. I do as i please is precisely the problem but to state the obvious is not confined to the u. S. I want to remind you that International Humanitarian law was developed on the basis of the lessons of history. After the Second World War with a view of ending the war, period. These laws do not judge the military mission but they demand it be pursued with proportionate and disstimpingon. E laws of war limit harms to civilians in conflict zones and offer soldiers to pursue their mission with honor and valor intact. International humanitarian law is under siege. Its defense needs a threepronged effort from Civil Society, from us, in the absence of government leadership. First, we need to strengthen the ability of people on the ground to safely record and document abuses. Second, on the basis of that document, we need to use the laws that exist to push back against the perpetrators. That just doesnt mean the International Court to which syria is not a signatory. The german n. G. O. Which has iled a criminal sought against syrian generals. And third, countries who support International Humanitarian law should use the economic tools at their disposal. Farther those who are response i will for violations. The second lesson of syria is we need the independent, principled and loud voice of the United Nations more than ever. Reporting on breaches of the u. N. Charter, exposing abuses of human rights and overcoming the obstacles that are put in the i way of basic u. N. Principles. The work of u. N. Staffers on the ground around the world as i have seen for myself committed and brave. But the gridlock at the Security Council and need to gain support of National Governments in countries where the u. N. Works threatens the freedom of the u. N. , its agencies and officials to speak out. This needs to be of widespread concern. The ability to speak truth to power is one of the u. N. s great strengths. When high commissioner of human rights condemned what happened in 2017 as quote, a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, his words revere beer ated around the world. To whom the truth needs to be spoken are the people whose funds pay the bills and control aagenda as. It is said that the u. N. Is only as strong in principle as its Member States especially the permanent members on the Security Council. But the charter gives independent backing to u. S. Officials. On the issues of Climate Change and the independent work of u. N. Bodies has been vital in building what is necessary to urge the world to act. I would act in peace and security we cannot afford the power of the u. N. To bear witness to be compromised. The