Conflict has created a regional crisis so severe in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that it now has global implications. The more than 15 million people displaced, as refugees and internally-displaced persons, by conflicts such as Syria’s have come to represent the highest figure for forced displacement since World War II in the Middle East and Europe. In Lebanon, Syrian refugees add another 25% to the country’s total population of about 4 million; in Jordan, they comprise at least 15% of 6.5 million. Given that both these countries, not rich themselves, are providing a global public service by hosting more than 2 million Syrian refugees between them, it is now of utmost urgency that the whole international community share the responsibility of providing Lebanon and Jordan with the medium- and long-term development support they need to support both refugees and the local communities that host them. International inaction at this juncture could threaten the stability of Jordan and Lebanon, and further, destabilize the region and its neighbors. Read More