i've been speaking to the irc�*s president and ceo, david milliband.to begin with syria because it has been on the irc emergency watchlist those of the last 13 years ever since the beginning of the civil war. now with the fall of assad, if we checked in next year, do you foresee syria still been on that list? how confident are you the situation will improve? we confident are you the situation will improve?— will improve? we have never bou~ht will improve? we have never bought the — will improve? we have never bought the argument - will improve? we have never bought the argument the - will improve? we have never| bought the argument the war will improve? we have never - bought the argument the war was over and assad has one. it is clear now we were right to be pointing to the inherent instability when the 16 million people are in humanitarian need, when swathes of the country our out of government control. in 12 months, syria could be a country where the extreme poverty rate is going down, where refugees are going back to the country rather than fleeing

the irc 'ust ut out a surprised by that? the irc 'ust put out a statement, �* surprised by that?by that? the ircjust put out a statement, they did l put out a statement, they did say outright they don't support hts but because it is a terrorist organisation or an affiliate, but it does place blame squarely on assad for not negotiating sooner and this has been going back to the beginning of the war without some concessions from assad they would not be a good ending to this conflict. just they would not be a good ending to this conflict.— to this conflict. just to go back to iran _ to this conflict. just to go back to iran for _ to this conflict. just to go back to iran for a - to this conflict. just to go j back to iran for a second, we've seen really an almost unthinkable, at least a few years ago, defeat, if you want to call it that, for hezbollah, one of its main paramilitary groups there. iran, seemingly not being able to be involved here, at least so far with what is going on in syria. what do you make of iran and the way that its strategy has been playing out and potentially

the irc is nonpolitical and will work with any administration but they'll have their work cut out forforeign secretary for the united kingdom, david, thank you for coming to "the saturday show." tell us about the international watchlist, what is it? >> 305 million people with humanitarian need sounds like mount everett, but 82% are in just 20 countries. we run a qualitative and quantitative set of data through researchers and come up with the 20 list of greatest hotspots and explain it's a combination of conflict driving extreme poverty. poverty is falling in stable states. the climate crisis adds insult to injury, and the drag anchor of a global economy with interest rates at crippling level in the poorest parts of the world. it's a concentrated and protracted program. syria has been on the list 13 years. but it's manageable at humanitarian level if we make the decisions about getting the right kind of aid to people. >> ask you quickly about syria. one minute, bashar al-assad is firmly in power, then poof, he's gone. how does his departure from syria impact your assessment of what's

we are trying with the irc and our partners to create safe spaces where they can have some kind of peacet is very complicated for them. ~ ., ., ., but it is very complicated for them. ~ . ., ., i. “ them. what more would you like to see the _ them. what more would you like to see the international- to see the international community doing? there is a kenyan police force but other countries including the us and the next president come january, donald trump? t the next president come january, donald trump? ithink the message — january, donald trump? ithink the message is _ january, donald trump? ithink the message is the _ january, donald trump? ithink the message is the same, - january, donald trump? i think| the message is the same, which administration is coming, the situation is dire, the needs are high, very basic needs, access to food, water, health and that is not the main problem. don't make the situation is worsening and we are entering a circle of crisis and to be able to break it we will need resources, attention and sustained attention. thank ou ve and sustained attention. than

here to tell us about the biggest trouble spots is the irc's president and ceo david miliband.david, welcome. what do you mean fundamentally, by a world out of balance? thanks, ari. >> we're saying that if you look at the symptoms of political failure in the number of refugees, the number of people in humanitarian need, they speak to, first, hard power triumphing over soft power diplomacy is in retreat. they speak to the fact that people and planet are out of balance because in the top 20 countries on our watch list, 16 of them are among the quartile of most vulnerable to climate disaster. we're also speaking to the imbalance between, frankly, civilians and soldiers because civilians are taking the heaviest toll of the civil wars that are going on around the world. and then finally, there's an economic imbalance, not just the traditional global north, global south, but even within the countries that we're talking about, growing disparities that are hitting the poorest, the extreme poor, the hardest. here's the thing that i think is really striking over the last 20 years, the nu

now, the irc is a nonpolitical organization and will work with any administration, but they will haveresident and ceo of the international rescue committee, and former foreign secretary for the united kingdom, david miliband. david, thank you very much for coming to the saturday show. quickly, tell us about the international watch list, and what is it. and, how do countries make their way onto it? >> 305 million people in humanitarian need sounds like mount everest. how on earth could you help that many people? in fact, 82% of them are in 20 countries. we run a quantitative set of data through our research. we come up with this 20 list of the greatest hotspots in the year ahead, and what we explain is, it's a combination of conflicts, because that is driving extreme poverty, rising in conflict states. poverty is falling in stable states. the climate crisis, which adds insult to injury for these places, and the drag anger of a global economy where interest rates have gone up, and they have gone up to crippling levels in the poorest parts of the world. we set out that this is a growing

so the irc has a new emergency watch list out this week. i want to start with syria, which is number four on your list. how does the fall of the assad regime impact the humanitarian crisis there, and what are the limitations on what can be done as long as the leader of the rebel forces and his part of this very diverse group is under sanctions for being on the terror list? >> thanks very much, andrea. gaza and west bank are number two on our watch list of humanitarian disaster awaiting us in 2025, and syria, as you say, is number four, so this is an absolute pivotal news that you are reporting, and has been happening, especially in syria, over the last ten days to two weeks. we have been working this committee in syria since the civil war began. we never bought the argument that war was over because the country was divided. there were 7 million refugees outside the country, and there was huge need inside the country. i think there was some immediate priorities. the border crossings that had been closed by the assad regime have been opened.

for all of us as we look at ircs better working in iraqi. we have also joining us virtually, julian perez, director at oh gci, bringing a lot of expertise in climate policies and working to catalyze the oil and gas industry, decarbonization of a market, useful as we are looking to understand how air rack's energy sector talked about the importance of the cleaning of the industry. tell us about learning more about going forward. leading industry expert, managing director and global government affairs and policy, global government affairs, great to have that long experience in air rack, the project refurbishment project last year has been involved for decades interact, bringing a wealth of industry experience to the conversation. speaking of knowledge, we have the founder and president of spv energy, strategic consulting firm working to provide affordable energy, and also a lecturer at oxford, georgetown offering the global perspective on the energy sector. looking forward to her perspective. and then the vice president of government affairs,