Thank you for organising this conference. We are here because we want to contribute to addressing the Syrian crisis both with a sober assessment and with a committed response.
We need to be sober and acknowledge that the fighting continues despite agreements to cease hostilities. We also need to acknowledge that the civilian population is always the first to suffer. Yesterday’s news about a renewed possible chemical weapons attack is dreadful. Switzerland condemns in the strongest possible terms all use of chemical weapons and calls for a thorough investigation of these attacks.
To bring Syria closer to peace, we must demonstrate a shared determination to seek dialogue and a negotiated solution to the conflict. We must call on all parties to the conflict to abandon maximalist positions, and to take concrete steps towards peace. One measure should be to create a mechanism to negotiate the exchange of prisoners, with the aim of reaching an agreement for the release of all detainees and addressing the issue of missing persons. My country is prepared to offer its support to the Syrian actors and to regional powers to this end.
Our shared determination to find a way out of the Syrian crisis needs to be strong on the political as well as the humanitarian level.
In its efforts to support a political solution, Switzerland is focusing on three priorities:
First, we are supporting the UN's efforts by providing experts to the UN Special Envoy and the host nation service of International Geneva.
Second, for the past years, we have been facilitating the creation of spaces for dialogue to allow different voices in Syria to make themselves heard – and be listened to – with a view to establishing a shared political and social framework. We helped establish the Civil Society Support Room, a Geneva-based platform which has provided a space for Syrian civil society to pursue constructive debate which furthers the peace process. We need to further strengthen this kind of formats. We need to bridge gaps to help foster dialogue between the opposition and the government. This morning, I met with representatives of Syrian organisations working to further the cause of peace. Their efforts to discourage extremist positions and further peaceful coexistence are exemplary.
Third, we are supporting the new international, impartial and independent mechanism which the UN has established in Geneva; compliance with international humanitarian law and human rights is of the essence and one of the foundations upon which peace is built.
Until peace is achieved through political efforts, we must maintain and expand the scope of our humanitarian aid. We need to provide a sort of humanitarian aid 'plus' – going beyond emergency aid and giving people prospects.
By the end of 2016, Switzerland had allocated 250 million Swiss francs to respond to the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflict. This year, we are making another 66 million Swiss francs available for humanitarian aid and to strengthen resilience in Syria and the surrounding region. Furthermore, we have allocated 7.5 million francs to measures promoting peace.
Assistance to Syria’s neighbouring countries, which have shown exemplary courage and solidarity, is a Swiss priority. Specifically, we are strengthening local capacities to help both those fleeing the conflict and host communities. Since 2012, Switzerland has rehabilitated 140 schools in Lebanon and Jordan to allow some 90,000 young people from these countries and from Syria to go to school.
In addition to education support, we are stepping up our efforts to improve access to drinking water in order to reduce tensions between local people and those who have been displaced. For example, in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, where nearly half of the residents are refugees, we provide assistance to the ministry in charge of water. In both Lebanon and Jordan, we are also encouraging innovation and local entrepreneurship with the launch of a programme to assist start-ups in the water sector, creating jobs for young people in the region.
Within Syria, as in other crisis situations, Switzerland is working to improve humanitarian access in order to get aid to those who need it most. Access must be unconditional and safe. We urge the parties to the conflict to guarantee the protection of civilian infrastructures and allow humanitarian actors to do their work.
We are also making every effort to strengthen the capacities of local communities in Syria. Through our humanitarian partners, we have helped to re-establish sources of income for Syrian farmers and tradespeople and to rehabilitate civilian infrastructure and health centres.
It is time that such efforts – the efforts of us all – are no longer being constantly undermined by the war but pave the way for peace and a clear perspective for reconstruction. A perspective that more than anything else will send a strong message to the Syrian people that they will not be forgotten.