At a European Union-led conference on Monday, donors pledged 5.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion) to assist Syria’s new authorities, who are grappling with humanitarian and security challenges following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The commitments made at the Brussels event were lower than last year’s 7.5 billion euros in grants and loans, with EU officials attributing the reduction to U.S. aid cuts.
This annual conference has been hosted by the EU since 2017, but Assad’s government was excluded due to its brutal actions during the civil war that began in 2011.
In a first for Syria, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attended the conference, joining European and Arab ministers as well as representatives from international organizations.
Following Assad’s overthrow in December, EU officials see this conference as a fresh start, despite ongoing violence between new Islamist rulers and Assad loyalists this month.
“This is a time of dire needs and challenges for Syria, as tragically evidenced by the recent wave of violence in coastal areas,” said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. However, she also noted it was “a time of hope,” referencing the March 10 agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces into the country’s state institutions. The EU reports that 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian aid, including 12.9 million needing food assistance.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU would increase its pledge for Syrians in the country and the region to nearly 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) for 2025 and 2026, with a boost of around 160 million euros for this year.
Earlier, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib stated that U.S. cuts to humanitarian and development aid had limited available funding for Syria. “The EU is committed to supporting the Syrian people and is ready to participate in Syria’s recovery, but we can’t fill the gap left by others,” she said.
Syria’s Shibani thanked the EU and its partners for their pledge, describing Syria’s reconstruction as a “joint effort and a global partnership” and hoping for prosperity and progress for the Syrian people.
U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, acknowledged that while recent violence in Syria may have influenced donor countries’ pledges, global conflicts and reduced U.S. aid had the greatest impact. “What is happening inside Syria … does have an impact, but let’s be honest, even without these events, the funding would have been less than in previous years,” he said, pointing to other global conflicts like those in Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine.
While Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that overthrew Assad, is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.N., EU officials are willing to engage with the new rulers as long as they adhere to promises for an inclusive and peaceful transition.
Syria has lost four decades of development due to the war, and it will take at least a decade to recover, according to Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Programme.
The devastation is further exacerbated by an economic crisis, with the Syrian pound plunging and nearly the entire population now living below the poverty line.
“While the needs are increasing, the support is decreasing. And this is, of course, tragic, because we know that the next few months will be critical,” Pederson stated.
($1 = 0.9192 euros)
