The politics of pledging: reflections on the London donors conference for Syria

This policy brief first looks at how the overall context of the pledging conferences for Syria has changed, and surveys the main promises and plans presented in the course of the London donors conference in Feb 2016. It then takes a critical look at the situation in Jordan – currently seen as the most promising candidate for sweeping policy change regarding its Syrian refugee population. It shows how the devil is in the details of governing Syrian labour and socio-economic development projects, and traces previous attempts for such changes. It argues that changing labour market regulations is not the silver bullet hoped for by the international community, but that real change can only come about if Europe rethinks its priorities vis-à-vis the Syrian crisis.