The Syria situation remains the largest refugee crisis in the world, with millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt for many years. With the vast majority of refugees residing in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas, basic public services and infrastructure in host countries quickly became overstretched and pre-existing vulnerabilities were exacerbated, particularly in affected host communities.

In 2015, recognizing the unique challenges facing host countries and communities in so generously hosting Syrian refugees, the international community instituted a new comprehensive approach. Going beyond emergency assistance, the new approach combined humanitarian and development responses to the Syria crisis into a single coherent plan in line with national plans and priorities, under the co-leadership of UNHCR and UNDP.

Now into its sixth year, the 3RP has led the way in terms of the international community’s support to national efforts to deal with the impact of the crisis. The 3RP has been at the forefront of many policy and programmatic innovations including support to national and local systems, using technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and supporting the selfreliance of refugees and host communities.