WEBVTT - UN Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher Talks 'Standing with Syria' Conference

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Washington's USA cuts are

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<v Speaker 1>looming large over regions that depend on assistance, and it

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<v Speaker 1>comes as global humanitarian aid is facing a period of

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<v Speaker 1>acute challenges. You've got flare ups in the world's geopolitical

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<v Speaker 1>hotspots Ukraine, Yemen, and Gaza. Meanwhile, though, the European Union

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<v Speaker 1>is hosting its ninth Brussels Conference today under the theme

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<v Speaker 1>Standing with Syria, and the aim is to mobilize international

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<v Speaker 1>support for the country during its transition from the Assad regime.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm pleased to say now joining us from Brussels

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<v Speaker 1>is Tom Fletcher, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and

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<v Speaker 1>Emergency Relief Coordinator for the United Nations. Tom, really good

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<v Speaker 1>to have you with us on this important day. It

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<v Speaker 1>isn't just USAID that's leaving a void here. You've also

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<v Speaker 1>got the UK cutting defense age spending in order to

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<v Speaker 1>fund defend spending. What are the consequences on the ground

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<v Speaker 1>of those aids?

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<v Speaker 2>So there are very real consequences because of the pace

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<v Speaker 2>of those cuts and also the savagery of those cuts.

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<v Speaker 2>There are hundreds of millions of people that we won't

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<v Speaker 2>reach with life saving aid in the coming years, So

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<v Speaker 2>we're having to revise all of our plans, all of

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<v Speaker 2>our strategies to save as many lives as possible with

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<v Speaker 2>the resources that we'll still have.

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<v Speaker 1>And of course migration has been key to the rise

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<v Speaker 1>of right wing political parties across Europe that could be

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<v Speaker 1>surely fueled more by these aid cuts.

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<v Speaker 2>What do you think, well, I think you know there

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<v Speaker 2>is a reason why aid is necessary. It's not just

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<v Speaker 2>for ethical moral reasons. It's also because it's upstream diplomacy,

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<v Speaker 2>it's upstream security.

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<v Speaker 3>Now.

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<v Speaker 2>If you engage in countries and help them to build

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<v Speaker 2>their economies, as we're trying to do in Syria over

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<v Speaker 2>today in this conference here in Brussels today, then actually

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<v Speaker 2>you deal with many of the potential downstream consequences of

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<v Speaker 2>not engage, rise in insecurity, migration, terrorism, in future pandemics,

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<v Speaker 2>for example. So there is a pragmatic case for aid

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<v Speaker 2>alongside what many of us would see as the moral

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<v Speaker 2>ethical case for helping the world's poorest.

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<v Speaker 4>Tom good morning, get Sky. Can we talk a little

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<v Speaker 4>bit about what is happening in Syria right now and

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<v Speaker 4>the conditions that those return will find. You've got over

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<v Speaker 4>a million Syrian refugees in Germany, around half claim benefits.

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<v Speaker 4>There is an effect on the labor market as a

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<v Speaker 4>result of these people's arrival in this country and their

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<v Speaker 4>potential departure as well. Would you expect significant numbers of

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<v Speaker 4>Syrians to return from Europe? What are you seeing? What

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<v Speaker 4>would you expect?

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<v Speaker 2>So? I do expect a lot of Syrians to be

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<v Speaker 2>heading home, And in fact, we have a scheme up

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<v Speaker 2>and running already where Syrians are able to go and

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<v Speaker 2>take a look at the conditions to see whether it's

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<v Speaker 2>safe to go back. And the Syrians I talked to,

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<v Speaker 2>the vast, vast majority want to go home. I drove.

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<v Speaker 2>I spent a week in Syria in December and rove

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<v Speaker 2>from the Lebanese border all the way up to the

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<v Speaker 2>Turkish border to look at those conditions. Now, the biggest

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<v Speaker 2>impediments to people going back are actually unexploded ordinance, and

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<v Speaker 2>we're busy clearing that as we speak, but also the

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<v Speaker 2>lack of power, which means that you know, there are

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<v Speaker 2>it's harder to rebuild communities, rebuild livelihoods. If we can

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<v Speaker 2>get those two things sorted, alongside the basic humanitarian needs

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<v Speaker 2>that I'm working on here in Brussels around food, water, shelter, medicine.

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<v Speaker 2>Then I think people will go back, And what Syrians

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<v Speaker 2>tell me is that they'll go from being an importer

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<v Speaker 2>of generosity and kindness to being an exporter once again

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<v Speaker 2>of generosity and kindness.

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<v Speaker 3>Well. Tom one of the criticisms, of course, of this,

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<v Speaker 3>aside from the humanitarian approach and the humanitarian reasoning here

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<v Speaker 3>of the USAID pullback and some of the reflections you're

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<v Speaker 3>seeing in other European governments as well, is simply that

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<v Speaker 3>this is an elimination of soft power. And in terms

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<v Speaker 3>of some of the Western governments and their reactions to

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<v Speaker 3>the rest of the world, are you seeing a tone

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<v Speaker 3>shift at all in terms of that move or perhaps

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<v Speaker 3>more and more governments, more and more officials around the

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<v Speaker 3>world leaning in to that messaging.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, you're right that overseas AID has been a massive

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<v Speaker 2>part of the projection of magnetism and power soft power

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<v Speaker 2>by countries like the US. It's been an enormous way

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<v Speaker 2>to show that they are engaged with the world. And

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<v Speaker 2>I think you don't build a golden age by retreating

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<v Speaker 2>from the world. You build a golden age by engaging

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<v Speaker 2>with the world, by leading the world. What we're seeing

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<v Speaker 2>is that many other countries are looking to step into

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<v Speaker 2>that space. I was in the golf a couple of

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<v Speaker 2>weeks ago. I've been in talking to countries in Asia

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<v Speaker 2>and across parts of Europe where they're actually saying, we

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<v Speaker 2>need to scale up now to compensate for these pullbacks,

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<v Speaker 2>and they're seeing the advantages of moving into that space

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<v Speaker 2>and really owning that space. So my hope is that

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<v Speaker 2>we're not going to see these savage scale of funding

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<v Speaker 2>cuts that currently look like they're on the table, and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm hoping that we can persuade those countries who are

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<v Speaker 2>pulling back to see the benefit of what they were doing.

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<v Speaker 4>Let's talk a little bit about Ukraine, because obviously that's

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<v Speaker 4>going to be the news over the next twenty four

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<v Speaker 4>to forty eight as it looks like we're going to

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<v Speaker 4>have a meeting between the US President and Vladimir ps

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<v Speaker 4>in a call at least, what is your assessment, Tom,

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<v Speaker 4>And you're an expert in this space. You're currently focused

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<v Speaker 4>on Syria, but I'm curious to see what you think

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<v Speaker 4>the similarities with Ukraine will be and what your expectation

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<v Speaker 4>will be for what that country looks like post a

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<v Speaker 4>potential peace deal, will refugees be returning, What kind of

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<v Speaker 4>effect will they have? What are the situations that they're

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<v Speaker 4>going to find on the ground. Are there similarities lesson

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<v Speaker 4>learns that we can take away from Syria. What are

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<v Speaker 4>you expecting to see and what do you think the

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<v Speaker 4>kind of the prognosis is therefore for the Ukrainian economy

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<v Speaker 4>the Ukrainian people.

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<v Speaker 2>So they're very different situations. Of course, the Syria conflict

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<v Speaker 2>has raged now for fourteen years and there is a

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<v Speaker 2>massive amount of rebuilding to be done again in the Ukraine.

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<v Speaker 2>And as those communities go back, if there is a

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<v Speaker 2>genuine piece, a genuine ceasefire, there will be a huge

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<v Speaker 2>rebuilding program in the East of Ukraine. And I was

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<v Speaker 2>there in January. I spend a week traveling around those

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<v Speaker 2>areas on the front line. Again, people need food, medicine,

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<v Speaker 2>they need shelter. Many have had their homes destroyed. Of course,

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<v Speaker 2>the Ukrainian economy is at a more advanced stage anyway

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<v Speaker 2>than the Syrian economy, and so you would hope that

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<v Speaker 2>with that capacity they'll be able to rebuild faster. Again.

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<v Speaker 2>We've got big appeals, as we have for the Syria

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<v Speaker 2>campaign right now, but we'll need the world to be

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<v Speaker 2>generous there too. The lesson I think from both of

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<v Speaker 2>these conflicts is that the costs of not rebuilding, the

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<v Speaker 2>costs of not engaging, are actually much greater than the

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<v Speaker 2>costs of rebuilding and engaging, because you just kick the

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<v Speaker 2>problem further down the road. So let's see what happens

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<v Speaker 2>in the next few days. Let's see if there is

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<v Speaker 2>a genuine ceasefire facilities on the table that both sides

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<v Speaker 2>can accept, and let's see if we can help people

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<v Speaker 2>to rebuild their lives and get back to a more

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<v Speaker 2>peaceful existence.

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<v Speaker 1>Again.

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<v Speaker 4>Sounds all pretty good, Tom. We will follow events with

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<v Speaker 4>a great deal of interest, and what is happening in

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<v Speaker 4>Syria over the next few days as well. Tom Fletcher,

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<v Speaker 4>Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator for

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<v Speaker 4>the United Nations, Thank you very much.