The ILO, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and UNICEF are organizing a side event to the Fifth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region,” hosted by the European Union.

The side event, titled “Employment, resilience and social cohesion - Success stories and challenges of labour market access for refugees and host communities” will take place virtually via Zoom on March 25th, 2021 from 9:00 to 11:00 Central European Time (CET).

The event aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on job creation measures and their transition to sustainable employment through tailored education and active labour market policies that contribute to social cohesion. The panellists will include:

• Dr. Elke Löbel, Deputy Director General and Commissioner for Refugee Policy, BMZ
• Ms. Birgitta Tazelaar, Deputy Director General International Cooperation at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Dr. Ruba Jaradat, Regional Director for the Arab States, ILO
• Mr. Ted Chaiban, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF
• H.E. Mr. Nasser Shraideh, Minister of Planning, Jordan
• Mr. Ahmet Serdar Yagmur, project coordinator of Transition to Formality Programme (KIGEP) at the Social Security Institution, Turkey
• Voices from Syrian refugee communities across the region: Ms. Amal Muhammad Ibrahim, Mr. Ali Fawwaz Alali and Mr. Ammar Sheikh Alkar

This interactive panel discussion will be conducted in English, with Arabic and Turkish interpretation available.


To register, please click here.

You are encouraged to send your questions, addressed to the panellists, in advance to the following email address: “bey-zoom@ilo.org” with the subject “Question SE5B”.

Background: A decade into the conflict, the situation in Syria and the region remains highly critical. The already existing severe economic, financial, social and humanitarian crises in Syria and the host countries were only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year. The impact on young people has been particularly dire. A lack of foundational skills (numeracy, literacy), transferable skills and labour market-relevant training is negatively affecting the transition to earning and decent work. Young workers and women, especially refugees, suffer from increased unemployment, informality and precarity.


During the side event, participants will address the following topics:

• The impact of the socio-economic crisis on refugees and host communities in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, and instruments and measures that were used to quickly adapt to unforeseen changes;
• The importance of both short and long term employment creation for resilience of individuals and host communities affected by forced displacement;
• The importance of linking young people with job opportunities, which means improving the linkages between the demand side (jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities) as well as the supply side of the labour market (market-relevant and accessible education, training, skills);
• Good practices and lessons learned from collaboration between humanitarian and development partners with a focus on innovative partnerships that bridge the humanitarian-development peace nexus;
• Impact of jobs creation programmes on social cohesion;
• Refugees and host countries experiences.