Press Conference: Tom Fletcher (OCHA) and Alexander de Croo (UNDP) on Syria Press Conferences Date: 2 April 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/ar/asset/k1p/k1p2kwgane?lang=en Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- Moderator [0:00]: Good morning. Thanks to all in New York who are joining us today, and good evening to our speakers who are joining us today from Damascus. Today we are joined by Mr. Alexandre Ducrot, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme, together with Mr. Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator. They have spent a long day, I'm sure, in Damascus. They've met with senior government officials, and together they took part in the launch of this year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Syria. I know their time is limited, so I turn the floor to Mr. Ducroix for opening remarks. Thank you so much. UNDP · Administrator · Alexandre Ducrot [0:40]: Yes, so let me, let me restart because I just, I just started. So together with Head of OCHA, Tom Fletcher, we've been here yesterday and today and really marked the moment in which we are here in Syria after a too long period of, of an atrocious war. With, with too many casualties. You see that we are here at the pivotal moment, and at the moment we're next to providing humanitarian aid, and there is still need for, uh, for humanitarian aid. We are at the moment where we can, we can shift from purely humanitarian to also doing, uh, doing development work. Development work for many reasons, but, but the main reason is that we see that there is quite some returnees Last year, more than 1.6 million people have returned to Syria, have returned to reconstruct their country, to come back to the country which they have left, often in dramatic circumstances. That leads to increased needs—needs on housing, needs on government services, needs on jobs. And providing those services are really crucial, because if we're not able to provide those services, well, actually, people who had the intention to return might at some point make the choice to to not return at all. And so when the needs are shifting, it is crucial that also the funding is shifting. There is still humanitarian needs, and we count on the services of OCHA and other humanitarian organizations for the months to come, but we need to be able to scale up dramatically the development services that we provide. The region is in urgent need for a success story, and Syria could be a success story if we are able to stand on the side of the Syrian people and provide the services that are, that are needed. And so this is really an appeal to the international community at a difficult moment to do the necessary investments, support, and advocacy for making sure that we can shift into, into development, development work. We see that the government has well-established plans and well-established priorities, priorities such as, for example, no mines on the land of Syria, which is going to be a huge endeavor. But, for example, also a plan of zero camps to make sure that in a year's time no one would be living in camps anymore. And we applaud those ambitious goals and really think that as UN organizations, together with NGOs and international NGOs, we can play a big, big role in in that. If you allow me, I would also like to highlight an economic analysis that has been done by UNDP's Bureau for Arabic States on what is the impact of the war in the region. And the impact of the war in the region is really reversing progress. A war like this destroys months of development progress. And here the estimation is that it would lead to a scaling back of 1.5 years of progress in an economic loss of $190 billion and more than 4 million people being pushed into, into poverty. This is only an analysis on the Arabic states. We see that there is also spillover into sub-Saharan Africa, which, which is not included in the analysis that we have done. Development is step by step. We create skills, we create jobs, we create stronger institutions. War undoes it in weeks. Progress that takes months and years is undone in weeks. And from our perspective, it is urgent that the war activities stop so that we can continue with the progress that we have been achieving over the past years in the region. And I will now give the word to my colleague, Tom Fletcher. OCHA · USG Humanitarian Affairs; ERC · Tom Fletcher [4:50]: Well, thank you, Alexander, and thank you, Eri. And it's good to see you online, colleagues. So As Alexander says, we're visiting the region under the cloud of the escalating regional conflict. I started the week in Lebanon and saw the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the House, also made site visits to spend time with Syrian and Lebanese refugees, but also with humanitarian workers who come under such attack in Lebanon. The number and the scale of those attacks is devastating. And you may have heard me brief the Security Council from Beirut about the importance of respect for international humanitarian law, the importance of protecting humanitarians, especially— well, all humanitarians, but notably at the moment, medics, paramedics who are coming under such attack. And of course, the importance of de-escalation. And that means an end, as you've heard from the Secretary-General earlier today, of Hezbollah's rocket fire indiscriminately into Israel and Israel's devastating military action in Lebanon. 1 in 5 people in Lebanon is displaced right now. I saw for myself enormous destruction, the impact of coercive displacement, and came away with 2 real concerns which I've shared with the Security Council, one that we may be facing the prospect. And from the sound of the statements being made by some Israeli ministers, it's a real danger of a fresh occupation, of a fresh occupied territory in southern Lebanon. But also, I came away with a real concern about national cohesion and the importance of all Lebanese parties pulling together in this moment of real fragility and concern, as so many people are on the move. And then here to Syria to join Alexander. I hope this is a living demonstration of UN80 in action. The Secretary-General has called for agencies to work together much more closely, and here we are, I hope demonstrating that. UN80 is about looking at more common premises, more common supply chains, more common procurement, but also more common planning and strategizing. And We've arrived, as Alexander says, at the moment of actual, of genuine hope for Syria. We were able to discuss that with the president earlier today. I think we're all conscious of the need to keep Syria out of that wider regional crisis. But there's potential now for Syria to move from being an importer of problems from the region to an exporter of genuine solutions and stability. And although the humanitarian needs are still very high—almost 16 million people need humanitarian support right now—we have to clear the mines, as Alexander has mentioned. There has been real progress in the last 15 months since I was here in December 2024, progress that has defied a lot of predictions and many expectations. And we have to build on that progress now, which means we accelerate the humanitarian work that we're doing, including that vital mine clearance. And we launched today our 2026 humanitarian needs and response plan. But it also means, very importantly, as Alexander has described, this transition, this recalibration as we phase down the humanitarian response and phase up the development, resilience, long-term recovery response. And as part of that, today has really driven home to us the way in which we can work in partnership with the government, and that can give us much more confidence as we move through the gears and into that recovery phase of this work. While the humanitarians are here, we're of course working aligned with our humanitarian principles—neutrality and independence. We're prioritizing hard as part of the humanitarian reset. We're ensuring that more resource goes to local actors. We're building up our local in-country leadership. We're delivering more efficiently, getting rid of the bureaucracy and the inefficiency, the duplication in the system. And we're of course ensuring that everything we do supports an inclusive political process. And this has been a key message from both of us at meetings today. And of course ensuring that the vital role of women and girls at the center of Syria's recovery is supported. As Alexander says, the world needs a success story right now. And I think we've both seen today and both feel growing confidence that Syria can continue to be that success story, even amid such a bleak, dark moment for the region. So thank you, Ari, and back to you in case there are any questions. Moderator [9:46]: Thank you so much to Mr. Ducroix and Mr. Fletcher. Do we have anybody online or in the room who would like to ask a question? Oh, sorry, yes, please. Sphinx News TV · Journalist · Ahmed Ali [10:01]: Uh, thank you, Mr. Fletcher and Mr. DeCrew, for your very important work. I think just calling it important would be an understatement, so thank you, gentlemen, for all the work you do. Uh, this is Ahmed Ali with Sphinx News TV. Uh, Mr. Fletcher, uh, while you have mentioned that there are immense improvements within the political process and humanitarian situation in Syria. I want to take you back to the comments that you made to the Security Council when Special Envoy Barak was there, and you were telling the Council that the current escalations in the war in Iran are creating a refugee crisis that is prepondering the situation in Syria and almost depleting its public administration. Could you speak a little bit about Well, I know it's not within your capacity to predict outcomes, but could you speak a little bit about how much of an impact you think that refugee crisis will debilitate Syria's public sector moving forward, and if you think that'll hinder any of the progress that the current authorities have made? Again, just looking to the foreseeable future. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it. OCHA · USG Humanitarian Affairs; ERC · Tom Fletcher [11:16]: Well, thank you. And look, it's— let's be clear, it's a real challenge. I was very impressed coming across the Lebanon-Syria border to see the facilities that are in place there, including medical facilities for those coming, coming home. About 200,000 refugees or displaced people have crossed the border in the last 3 or 4 weeks. The vast majority, about 175,000 of those, are Syrians coming home, but that leaves about 25,000 others, mainly Lebanese and of course Palestinians, people who've often been displaced multiple times. So while the government is preparing and is very focused on creating the conditions where they can close the camps within Syria, these are very, very significant numbers. And it's why we are fully mobilized, our colleagues of course at UNHCR, our colleagues at IOM, but working across the humanitarian community to try to support that community on the to move and to try to help the government plan for all eventualities. I think, you know, one depressing impression I had, and I think it's shared by so many people in Lebanon, there was a sense of despair and despondency and anxiety on this front. There's a sense that this is a— is likely to be a long-running conflict, and that even if we reach some sort of moment where the actors declare victory on the US-Israel-Iran conflict, that that may not bring to an end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict anytime soon. And that will have significant humanitarian implications for Lebanon, but also for the wider region. And so this is a moment of grave peril. And it's important that the, the UN, the whole UN family are here in support of the people in greatest need. Moderator [13:09]: Please. Roodaw · Journalist · Namo Abdullah [13:11]: Thank you so much for this briefing. This is Namo Abdullah with Roodaw. I have one question for Mr. Fletcher, or for the other general, sorry, I forgot your name, from the UNDP. So, have you visited the northeast Syria, the region Rojhava region, and can you give us an update on what's going on over there? Because like late last year, we had a conflict between Damascus forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. And have you been in— have you talked to the Kurdish officials there? Thank you. OCHA · USG Humanitarian Affairs; ERC · Tom Fletcher [13:54]: Thank you, and a fair question. So sadly, not on this, on this mission. I had to reduce the length of time that I had in country in order to go and spend 36, 48 hours in Beirut, which is obviously, for obvious reasons, given the deterioration in the situation there. But I have been in close contact with colleagues from that region and indeed met leaders of women's organizations, including from that region, this morning. So it's a situation we're keeping under very close monitoring. Things do seem to have stabilized to some degree, but I think everyone is conscious here of the need to ensure that inclusive political process and to ensure that humanitarian support and development support does reach all corners of Syria in a fair way on the basis of, of greatest need. So I think that we're moving in the right direction. We're on the right trajectory, but we cannot be complacent. Moderator [14:58]: Great. Thank you so much. Do we have any other questions? All right, gentlemen, is there anything you would like to add? I know you have a busy schedule, so is there anything you'd like to add before we wrap up here? Thank you. UNDP · Administrator · Alexandre Ducrot [15:12]: No, not necessarily. I think that our visit here really marks a moment in, we hope, Syria's future, where this becomes a country that that offers opportunity for, for development. We see that the plans are there. The ambition is there. We need to make sure as an international community that at a moment when this is transitioning from an area of problems to an area of opportunity, of a future, that as an international community, we also stand there to sufficiently financially support them. OCHA · USG Humanitarian Affairs; ERC · Tom Fletcher [15:53]: Absolutely right. I fully agree. I mean, it's been an encouraging, heartening visit. We've noted so much progress. We noted in the conversation with President al-Assad that the Syrian people are extraordinarily generous, among the most generous in the world, in my experience. And for so long, they've had to rely on the generosity of others. And the intention is there to go back to being that exporter of generosity once again. And we really do need Syria to be that stabilizing force in the region right now. And, you know, again, just to underline that this is, you know, we don't do these visits all the time. This is, you know, a really important way for us to demonstrate these fresh ways of working, that we are one UN family, and that across the humanitarian community and the development community, we're looking for shared solutions to the challenges that we face, and we hope to be judged by our results. Thank you. Moderator [16:58]: Thank you so much. I know it's been a long day, so we really appreciate your taking the time to join us today. Thank you so much, everybody. Have a good day.